For years I have been warning anyone who would listen that, sooner or later, FHA would start cracking down on all the lenders out there flouting the rules and risking the safety of the FHA program. It seems our present mortgage crisis, along with some increased funding, may have finally triggered this crackdown. I couldn’t be more pleased. For a long time, bad lenders have been making the mortgage business hard for the originators who want to do things the right way.
FHA today announced some rather major guideline changes which will tighten up the availability of FHA loans. Your view regarding these changes is likely to be guided by your vantage point in the process.
Members of the general public who are not in the market for a home or a mortgage refinance will most likely approve. These changes certainly will improve the quality of the FHA loan pool moving forward. Provided, that is, the average FHA buyer can still meet the requirements.
HUD TAKES ACTION TO SPEED RESALE OF FORECLOSED PROPERTIES TO NEW OWNERS Measure to help bring stability to home values and accelerate sale of vacant properties
WASHINGTON – In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties. The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure. Just yesterday, Secretary Donovan announced $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and nonprofit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Inspector General Kenneth M. Donohue and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner David H. Stevens announced today an initiative focusing on mortgage companies with significant claim rates against the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance program.
As part of our government’s continuing crusade to over regulate and over complicate the mortgage process for consumers and mortgage industry professionals alike so that they can continue to blame mortgage brokers for the current crisis instead of government, the new RESPA guidelines took effect on January 1, 2010. More on this later.
