The new Hope loan program created under the FHA reform measure has been variously described as a “bailout” and a “giveaway.” You wonder if the folks opposed to the FHA measure actually bothered to read it.
In the realm of non-news, we have various lenders now focusing on the joys of FHA lending and explaining how FHA mortgages are largely unknown to the public — thus the sudden need for the expertise of these lenders. This, of course, is difficult to believe.
The FHA program has been in place since 1934. More than 34 million loans have been issued with FHA backing. The FHA program is about as secretive as pro football on a Sunday.
JDJ writes and says:
“I’d like to hear your thoughts on the effectiveness of the “world-class regulator” for the GSEs that this legislation would create.
“It seems to me that a strong regulator looking at the Fan and Fred is going to want them to lever way, way down. That would entail buying fewer mortgages and holding onto fewer in their portfolio. Moving away from their current 65 to 1 leverage to something in the high teens.
The chairman of the House Financial Services, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) want the mortgage industry to halt foreclosures until October 1st. That’s when the provisions of the FHA bill go into effect.
Look for fireworks if HUD cannot get the foreclosure relief measure up and running by October 1st. Also, look for congressional hearings to pressure HUD and private-sector lenders to get revised programs in place before October 1st.
By a vote of 72-13 the Senate on Saturday wrapped up H.R. 3221: The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008.
Next, the bill — which includes important provisions for FHA mortgage borrowers — moves to President Bush for a signature or veto. The White House says it will now sign the bill, a measure which it had threatened to veto.
The Senate has closed off additional debate on the FHA modernization bill that was earlier approved by the House. The vote for cloture was 80-13.
What this means: The Senate will now vote on the full bill. This could happen later today, Friday, but there could be some delay which would result in a Saturday vote. (The reason to push for a Friday vote is so that Senators can return to their states for weekend politicking.)
If FHA reform goes through as the legislation is currently written, then thousands of borrowers will soon find that they have a new FHA mortgage insurance premium (MIP).
HUD has been trying to bulk up collections from borrowers by changing the way it charges for FHA insurance. Instead of the flat-rate, one-size-fits-all system that has read more
Marc Brinitzer wrote and said “here in Sacramento and in California in general, values have fallen 50% in the last couple of years.
“The crisis this has created is far beyond that of resetting subprime and neg am loans. Even those read more
By a vote of 272-152 the House passed H.R. 3221: The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008.
Next, the bill goes back to the Senate for final approval. However, while passage by the Senate is expected, the final vote is unlikely until Friday at read more
If all goes according to plan, FHA reform will be taken up and passed by the House this week.
In the midst of the cheers for the many advances contained in the bill, one sure outcome will be a second look at downpayment assistance plans (DPAs).
It now seems entirely likely that DPAs will be read more
I spent part of yesterday at the “Save The Dream,” an effort by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). Held at a major hotel in downtown Washington, there were more than 100 tables with computers and counselors helping homeowners with toxic loans who faced foreclosure.
There were perhaps 1,000 people at the hotel on a Monday read more
In the St. Charles (IL) Journal, writer Keith McCulloh raises an interesting question: “Is there really a housing crisis?”
McCulloh, president of the local Realtor Association, makes these points:
First, his community is doing relatively well — he says home values have only dropped 2.2 percent during the past year.
Second, he says “there are 120 million read more
The item below appears in the Federal Register of July 14th.
Please leave a comment if you know what the announcement means (or if you would like to guess, take a shot in the dark, make up something, etc. that’s okay read more
For the last two weeks of June the FHA again did virtually nothing to help stranded homeowners with toxic loans.
The latest figures from HUD show that despite big claims for the period from June 16 through June 30 the FHA refinanced just 198 delinquent conventional mortgages. This is down 22 percent from the first 15 days of the month read more
We first wrote about Moe Bedard last August. He had posted a list of lender contact numbers for those facing foreclosure and we thought, aha, this is information that can help folks.
Just as interesting, Bedard wanted others to publish his list. So we did, with credit read more
Listen to FHA Loan Pros columnist Peter Miller on American Public Radio: 
Peter G. Miller is a syndicated real estate and personal finance columnist who appears in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. The author of six books published originally by Harper & Row, Mr. Miller has appeared on Oprah, the Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, American Public Radio, NPR and numerous other television, radio and print outlets.
Gina Pogol has been writing about mortgage and finance since 1994. In addition to a decade in mortgage lending, she has worked as a business credit systems consultant for Experian and as an accountant for Deloitte. She graduated with High Distinction from the University of Nevada with a BS in Financial Management.
Karen Lawson is a freelance writer whose career experience includes more than fifteen years in mortgage loan servicing. As a member of Fannie Mae's western regional loss mitigation team, Karen approved hundreds of mortgage loan loss mitigation cases. She holds BA and MA degrees in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.
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