FHA Mortgage Guide

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

Below is the announcement of changes to the FHASecure program.

What’s new? Two things.

First, HUD is loping off the borrowers most in need. When the FHASecure program was first announced the FHA, a high-ranking FHA official told reporters that virtually all delinquent borrowers would be welcomed into the program. He specifically mentioned read more

The Federal Reserve issued the statement below on Sunday night at 6 PM — this is at the opening of Australian stock trading and thus timed to reduce turmoil in securities markets worldwide.

For years Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have each had the ability to withdraw $2.5 billion directly from the U.S. Treasury. The new read more

Late Friday afternoon the Senate voted 63-5 to approve FHA reform. The measure, H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act, now goes to the House for consideration. In practice, the House and Senate versions of the measure will be combined into a finalized form by a conference committee and then read more

The FHA bill has not cleared the Senate, but it could happen today, Friday.

July 4th was a week ago and here is today’s interesting thought:

Congress was not in session for a few days during the past week — as the old joke goes, the time when the Nation is safest….

Senators and representatives read more

One of the smartest ideas remaining in the FHA and VA programs is the concept of streamline refinancing.

Essentially the idea is that if you can afford your current mortgage you can surely afford your current mortgage if the monthly payments are reduced. The result is that with a streamline refinance there are relatively few read more

Jose writes and says:

“We bought our home three years ago at $450,000 here in California, and it has devalued to $360,000. Our interest-only is up in another year and a half, I feel we are screwed!! We called a lender for FHA loan, read more

Tom Lawler writes and says that down payment assistance programs should be banned under the FHA program. He makes these points:

“1. Why should the FHA “require” a 3% down payment, but then let the seller “pay” the down payment by hiking the home price by 3% — effectively meaning that read more

Late Monday afternoon the Senate voted 76 to 10 to invoke cloture, effectively meaning an end to debate regarding the proposed FHA modernization bill.

The cloture vote moves the Senate closer to final consideration of FHA reform, perhaps Tuesday.

Also on the schedule for read more

Once again, HUD has redefined the FHASecure program to assure that few borrowers facing for foreclosure will actually have access to the program.

As HUD explains, “FHA has not changed its underwriting guidelines, but rather its eligibility criteria.”

Right. As the lawyers say, this is a distinction without a difference.

Forget about saving families from read more

Each year on July 4th it’s great to look around and see how fortunate we are to live in the U.S.

Those who have traveled overseas understand the astonishing wealth of a society which allows people to have differing ideas, to debate and argue without fear or punishment, to worship as we elect, to read more

Suzanne writes and asks about FHA loans and mortgage insurance:

“I do have an question regarding my 15 year FHA refinance loan with mortgage. They not only charge me with $1,600 on PMI (mortgage Insurance) upfront, but they also charge me on monthly basis. The mortgage guy told me read more

If you financed a home with an FHA loan and held it long enough, the odds are good that you have a lot of equity. For many borrowers the way to access the value within a home is to take out a home equity line of credit, a HELOC.

In recent months, however, a number read more

Tom Lawler, discussing down payment assistance programs (DPA’s), says that “if a seller artificially inflates a home’s sales price, but then gives the buyer some “cash back” under the table for a “down payment” on that buyer’s mortgage, it is read more

FHA legislation approved by both houses of Congress will not be finalized before the July 4th recess. This means it will take several weeks to come up with compromise legislation — if there is ultimately to be any legislation at all.

The delay results from an effort in the Senate created by Sen. John Ensign ( read more

Tiffany Taylor says with regard to the proposed FHA reform measure now being considered on Capitol Hill that “I just don’t see the logic in rewarding irresponsible people that bought more house than they could afford, or spend more than they make.”

I suspect a lot read more

During the past few days The Washington Post has run an interesting-series of front-page articles looking at the mortgage crisis.

This is great stuff but it never quite gets to an important point: There was no FHA mortgage meltdown.

Fewer FHA loans, yes — after read more

FHALoanAdvice.com has a very sharp analysis of a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal entitled The FHA Time Bomb

Written by industry veteran and FHA expert Carl Pruitt, read more