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The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Thursday announced modifications to its streamlined refinance program for borrowers with high loan-to-value ratios, making the program available for loans originated on or after Oct. 1.

This program will help those borrowers who are current on their mortgages but whose LTV ratio exceeds the government-sponsored enterprises' refinance limit.

The Oct. 1 eligibility date preserves the objectives of the GSEs' credit risk transfer (CRT) program. The structure of future credit risk transfers will accommodate the new streamlined refinance program by allowing newly refinanced loans to return to the reference pools. This move, the FHFA said, "will help preserve credit loss protection on the loans without unwinding the protection paid for through CRT transactions."

With these changes, said NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel Ann Kossachev, credit unions will be able to refinance more high-LTV loans purchased by the GSEs, and their members will benefit from the lower monthly payments and interest rates.

The FHFA announcement also included fact sheets for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the high-LTV program.

The agency on Thursday also announced that it will extend the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which helps underwater or near-underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages, through Dec. 31, 2018.