Tag Archives: fha

FHA Condo Loan Law Passed

Posted on by

condos1It will soon get easier for condominium buyers to obtain Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.

Last week the Presdient signed into law H.R. 3700, also known as the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, that will require regulators to rewrite several rules that determine FHA eligibility for condo developments.

Current rules disqualify buyers from seeking FHA loans if less than 50 percent of the condominium units are owner-occupied. The law lowers that requirement to a 35 percent owner-occupied ratio.

FHA also would have to relax a hard rule banning transfer fees when a condo is sold to allow condominium associations to collect fees that support community improvements. That policy is consistent with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s existing policy.

The agency also must simplify its re-certification process. As it stands, developments must undergo a rigorous certification hurdle every two years.

FHA overseer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, must make some of the changes within 90 days, according to the National Association of Realtors. Other changes will be proposed through rule making.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the law would boost FHA-guarantee lending by $8 billion between 2017 and 2021, as more condo buyers would be eligible.

The law will also allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to delegate to preferred lenders its approval authority for USDA loans, and the agency to charge a $50 fee to lenders per loan for using the automated underwriting system.

The bill was unanimously approved by the House in February and by the Senate earlier in July.

For more information call:
Dean Henderson, CRMS
Financial Independence Mortgage
(661) 726-9000

2012 FHA Future Bright

Posted on by

by Dean Henderson, CRMS

In spite of a gridlocked Congress, 2011 ended with some very positive legislation for the 2012 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Loan Program.  The local housing market will benefit from higher FHA loan limits and an extension of the FHA Anti-Flipping waiver.

Thanks to the support of Antelope Valley Congressmen Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Kevin McCarthy(R-CA) H.R. 2112 was passed by the US Congress which includes a provision to reinstate the FHA loan limit in high-cost areas for two years.

The higher Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA conforming loan limits of $729,750 expired Oct. 1, when it was reduced to $625,500. The passage of H.R. 2112 provides for an extension of FHA-insured mortgages at the higher level of $729,750 in high cost areas, including Los Angeles and Orange counties, through December 2013.

Unfortunately, The US Senate and House could not agree on increasing the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which marks a historic change in the long enjoyed higher max loan limits which were previously dominated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In addition to the gift of higher FHA loan limits, FHA has also announced the extension of its “anti-flipping” waiver through the end of 2012, which allows buyers to purchase homes that have already been sold in the last 90 days.

The waiver, which was set to expire on December 31, 2011, has been extended through December 31, 2012.

An anti-flipping rule originally took effect in 2003 to stop a spike in home flipping that was being blamed on driving up home prices during the housing boom. The rule prevented FHA-backed loans from being used to purchase homes that had been owned by a seller for less than 90 days. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development decided to reconsider the 90-day limit in 2010 after skyrocketing foreclosures and abandoned homes were causing blight in neighborhoods across the country and hampering nearby property values.

The temporary waiver to the anti-flipping rule will allow buyers and investors to quickly resell refurbished homes and not have to wait 90 days to do so. Since the waiver took place in 2010, FHA has insured nearly 42,000 mortgages worth more than $7 billion on homes resold within 90 days of the last purchase, according to HUD.

The 2012 extension includes requirements that flip transactions be arms-length transactions and requires sellers to document improvements to properties to justify profits in excess of 120% of the seller’s acquisition price.

For more FHA Loan information contact:

Dean Henderson, CRMS

(661) 726-9000