As we have reported, HUD has disclosed that only 87 delinquent conventional loans were refinanced in the first two weeks of November, nowhere near the numbers anyone would expect given claims that more than 33,000 FHASecure loans have been issued.

Pat Purcell offers the read more

The figures are in for the first 15 days of December and — with one astonishing exception — the FHA program continues to do remarkably well.

At current rates, as many as 1.8 million borrowers could apply for FHA loans in the coming year — a 39-percent increase over fiscal 2007. While the conventional market flounders, the FHA read more

As mentioned several days ago, the Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act of 2007 extends the mortgage insurance write-off — including the insurance paid by FHA borrowers — until 2010.

Jeff Lubar with the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America — MICA — offers additional information:

Qualified read more

President Bush, HUD Secretary Jackson and Secretary of the Treasury Paulson all provided big estimates to support the FHASecure program and all are now presumably embarrassed by the realities of the HUD effort. If they are embarrassed — if they have any sense of compassion for the people nationwide who are losing their homes — read more

You remember FHASecure. It was the presidentially-designated savior of the soon-to-be-foreclosed, Earlier this month — and with great fanfare – HUD said the FHASecure program had already saved 33,000 troubled homeowners.

“In response to the Bush Administration’s plan to help families avoid foreclosure, tens of thousands read more

What does the Senate version of FHA modernization actually say? Below is a summary from Sen. Christopher Dodd’s office.

Note that the Senate measure S. 2338 and the House bill (H.R. 3915) are not alike. read more

Patrick Rucker, an excellent Washington correspondent with Reuters, reports that 266 FHASecure loans have been originated to date. That is not a typo.

“Between September and mid-December,” says Rucker, “only 266 such borrowers have cleared all FHA hurdles, according to data compiled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that was provided to Reuters.”

The FHASecure read more

The Senate has passed the Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act of 2007, a measure which would end the income tax borrowers face when lenders forgive up to $2 million in outstanding mortgage debt.

Sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the measure would also extend the read more

While the Senate passed FHA modernization by an overwhelming majority, 93-1, it did not pass the same bill that was approved by the House.

The distinctions between the two bills are important and it would be unwise to suggest that FHA modernization will sail through a conference committee. As Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of read more

The Senate today passed the FHA modernization bill, S.2338. The vote was 93-1.

The major points:

The maximum loan amount in the lower 48 states will be increased from to $362,790 to $417,000. This is the conventional loan limit. Previously the largest FHA loan for read more

The FHA program continues to roar along while much of the rest of the mortgage market is stuck in park.

The latest numbers from HUD show that in the first 15 days of November applications are coming in at an annualized rate of 1.4 million. That’s twice the 680,000 applications actually received in fiscal 2007, the period read more

The House Judiciary Committee has passed H.R. 3609, the Emergency Home Ownership and Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007. The committee passed the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Bradley Miller (D-NC), by a vote of 17-15.

This is a measure which, oh read more

Thinking of buying a home now, in the midst of the mortgage meltdown?

In a lot of markets this may not be a bad time to buy — surely it’s a lot better than 12 or 18 months ago when sellers were getting multiple offers and purchasers were getting, well, not much. But now in many places read more

There’s a great irony in the Bush foreclosure rescue plan — it does not apply to FHA loans.

Help under the Bush initiative is limited to selected subprime loans that mortgage investors elect to modify. Missing from this useless brew is any effort to help FHA borrowers.

In reality, this is not a terrible oversight. read more

Anyone notice something curious about the chart below? It comes from the latest foreclosure and delinquency study produced by the Mortgage Bankers Association and it shows that foreclosed government loans — FHA and VA financing — have little impact on national foreclosure levels.

How come? For the most obvious reasons.

You can’t get an FHA read more