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Last week the Senate voted to override their archain filibuster rules to make some progress. Republicans have been stifeling the Obama Administrations efforts in nominating circuit court judges and administrative positions by using the filibuster. Finally the Democratic majority in the senate had enough. They passed the “nuclear option” which means these appointments merely need a simple majority vote to proceed. Why is this important to the Troll you might ask? Well, one of the appointments is Mel Watt, a longtime congressman that was choosen by Obama to head the FHFA. The FHFA is the Federal Housing Finance Agency which is responsible for administering the Harp refinance program. Edward DeMarco is the current director of the FHFA. For the past year he has been unwilling to implement sweeping eligibility changes to the Harp program the Obama administration has wanted. As you probably know the Harp 2.0 program has helped nearly 2.5 million homeowners refinance even if their properties were underwater. The main caveat of Harp 2.0 was that the loans had to be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to be eligible. It appears that is about to change. Wide speculation is that the incoming Watt will expedite the changes to the Harp program that the Obama administration has sought and DeMarco has obstructed. This simple appointment may very well provide eligibility to the Harp program for everyone. This is huge! This opens the door for so many more people to refinance that otherwise couldn’t. The Troll will unveil the new Harp rules as soon as they are provided. With interest rates still at all-time lows this program could change the economic outlooks for millions of Americans.

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The Troll