guaranteed not to be held responsible for fraud committed on the original loan. This greatly expanded the willingness of lenders to participate in the program. Qualifying criteria Certain criteria must be met to qualify for HARP. While there may be additional criteria imposed by the mortgage servicer, the government requirements are as follows: The mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Many homeowners are unaware that their mortgages are linked to one of these organizations, since neither Freddie Mac nor Fannie Mae deals directly with the public. The mortgage must have been acquired by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae on or before May 31, 2009. The homeowner must not have a previous HARP refinance of the mortgage, unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP during March–May 2009. The homeowner must be current on their mortgage payments, with no (30-day) late payments in the last six months and no more than one late payment in the last twelve months. The current loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of the property must be greater than 80%. The homeowner must benefit from the loan by either lower monthly payments or movement to a more stable product (such as going from an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) to a fixed-rate mortgage). HARP 2.0 and PMI Many people who purchased their home with a down payment of less than 20% of the purchase price were required to have private mortgage insurance (PMI). This is common practice with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loans. Having PMI attached to a loan made that loan easier to sell on the Wall Street secondary market as a "whole loan". PMI hedged the risk brought by the high loan-to-value ratio by offering insurance against foreclosure for whoever owned the "whole loan". Although HARP 2.0 allows homeowners with PMI to apply through the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program, many homeowners have faced difficulty refinancing with their original lender. HARP requires the new loan to provide the same level of mortgage insurance coverage as the original loan. This can be difficult and time-consuming, especially in the case of lender-paid private mortgage insurance (LPMI). As a result, many lenders are reluctant to refinance a PMI mortgage. Fortunately, HARP 2.0 enables homeowners to go to any lender to refinance, so the mortgage holder is not stymied if the original bank is unwilling to pursue a HARP refinance. Occupancy type