Last week we reported how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s boss, the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA), was considering whether or not to expand the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) by refinancing loans with an LTV of over 105%. The program’s apparent lack of success has regulators scrambling to find ways to help more homeowners:

“We’re actively considering how to structure a program that makes sense over 105 percent,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart said yesterday. He said a ratio of 125 percent “is a number” that’s on the table, though “not necessarily the number we’re going to end up with.”

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We’ve had a lot of reader interest regarding our story “Fannie Works to Streamline Refis.” The post, written in early February, discussed Fannie Mae’s latest strategy designed to speed up the refinance process by expanding the criteria for eligibility (i.e. reduced FICO requirement) by reducing the amount of documentation (such as employment information) required by lenders, even waiving an appraisal in some cases.

Given the amount of interest, we figured an update on the program would be in order.

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