Every few years and with grim determination, HUD announces that it will act against such programs as the one offered through Nehemiah. Every few years, in the face of congressional opposition and public complaints, the idea vanishes.

HUD’s worry is not unreasonable. The federal department is concerned that read more

If borrowers can write off mortgage insurance premiums how much will they reduce their tax bills?

This is not a minor matter, it turns out that a typical borrower will save $350, according to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA).

“When this measure is ratified by the full read more

On a voice vote, the House Ways & Means Committee has passed H.R. 3648. This bill, which must now cleared by the full House and the Senate, is read more

For all the talk of FHA modernization, it seems as though most FHA standards will remain in place should a new bill pass on Capitol Hill.

This is good news because the FHA program is fundamentally an insurance plan. When there are claims against the FHA program, money needed to buy homes and pay off read more

Are FHA and conventional loans the same in terms of borrower benefits? Not at all, says Larry K Cragun.

Cragun, writing on a Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog, explains a number of areas where conventional and FHA loans differ. Edited for space and read more

FHA loan applications on a seasonally adjusted basis now top one million, a huge increase when compared a total of 625,000 last year.

During the last half of August, the FHA endorsed 27,791 mortgages, including 14,994 purchase money mortgages, 8,272 refinances and 4,525 HECM’s (reverse mortgages).

*Purchase mortgages accounted for 54 percent of the total while refi’s made up 29.8 read more

Speaking before the House Committee on Financial Services, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that risk-based pricing for FHA loans was a good idea:

“In modernizing FHA programs,” said Benanke, ”Congress might wish to be guided by design principles that allow flexibility and risk-based pricing. To alleviate foreclosures, the FHA could be encouraged to collaborate read more

The idea that FHA reform is a slam-dunk is hardly the case. For one thing, the House and Senate bills differ substantially. Also, the White House — using appropriately coy language — objects to various aspects of both bills.

What does the While House like and dislike? See for yourself in the statement below:

The read more

According to Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, the FHA bill passed by the House offers the following changes and benefits when compared with the current program.

Lower Down Payments

Authorizes zero and lower down payment loans for borrowers that can afford mortgage payments, but lack the cash read more

The Senate Banking Committee has now passed its version of FHA reform, a version which does not match the bill passed by the House.

How do the bills differ?

One major distinction is that the House measure would allow individuals to buy with no money down. That compares with the current 3 percent down FHA requirement. read more

Bulletin: The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1852, The Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007. The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 348-72.

The next step will be to see what the Senate does — and then read more

For a long time the FHA loan limit in high-cost housing areas has been limited to 87 percent of the conventional loan limit. Since the 2007 conventional loan limit is $417,000 for a single-family home in the lower-48 states, it follows that the FHA loan limit is $362,790 ($417,000 x .87). The loan read more

On the foreclosure front, the news remains awful and worse than anything to date.

New figures released by RealtyTrac.com, the leading source of foreclosure information for investors, reporters and others, shows in its August 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report that “a total of 243,947 foreclosure filings — read more

I spent much of last week in Dallas to attend the Five Star Default Servicing Conference. This is a meeting of several thousand people who deal in bulk real estate sales, purchases and REOs — real estate owned by lenders after default.

One of the more interesting comments read more

The Senate plans to vote on FHA modernization this month, but stay tuned for an exact date.

Patrick Rucker, the very sharp reporter for Reuters who covers such things says the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will consider FHA modernization on Wednesday, read more