December 30, 2013
The FHA has announced an extended deadline for appeals to the 2014 FHA loan limits for high cost areas. According to an announcement dated December 20, 2013, the FHA will allow “interested parties” in high-cost areas to submit an appeal until the end of January 2014.
“On December 6, 2013, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued Mortgagee Letter 2013-43 which announced FHA’s loan limits for case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014. FHA is extending the date for interested parties to request a change to high cost area loan limits announced in ML 2013-43 from January 6, 2014 to January 31, 2014.”
However, the appeal process is not open to all high cost areas. According to the FHA/HUD announcement, “Requests for a change to loan limits for a specific local area will only be considered for counties for which HUD does not already have home sale transaction data for the calculation of loan limits.”
Furthermore, those who are allowed to appeal must submit documentation to justify a higher loan limit in that market. “A request to change loan limits must contain sufficient housing sale price data, with the request listing one-family properties sold in a specified high-cost area, and where the sale took place within the look- back period of January through August 2013. Housing sale price data included in requests should also:
–Differentiate between single-family residential properties and condominiums or cooperative housing units.
–Distinguish between distressed and non-distressed sales, to the extent possible.”
The FHA announcement likely does not affect a typical FHA loan transaction that closes after the start of the new year, except in certain cases. However, borrowers in high-cost areas that may qualify for a reconsideration of the FHA loan guaranty limit in that area should discuss the situation with their loan officers to see whether any such appeal might affect the FHA loan process in that instance.
Those who wish to appeal for higher local FHA loan limit changes should submit their appeals before January 31, 2014. All such requests must be submitted to:
FHA Santa Ana Homeownership Center:
Attn: Program Support/Loan Limits
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Santa Ana Homeownership Center
Santa Ana Federal Building
34 Civic Center Plaza, Room 7015
Santa Ana, CA 92701-4003
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section. You can apply or get pre-approved for an FHA loan at FHA.com, a private company and not a government website.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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