Articles Tagged With: FHA and HUD

May 31, 2019

June Is National Home Ownership Month

June is National Homeownership Month. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announce this on their official site as “a time to recognize the importance of homeownership to the U.S. economy and the benefits owning a home have on building household wealth for families”. National Housing Month is a time the agency uses to raise awareness of home ownership issues much in the same way that April is used (as Fair Housing Month) to raise awareness of federal law that protects house hunters and renters from discrimination in housing. This year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced millions of dollars in funding in support of “sustainable homeownership”; the agency announced $43 million in grants intended for housing counseling organizations nationwide. “HUD-approved housing counselors can make all the | more...

May 31, 2019

HUD Announces $1.2 Million To Fight Housing Discrimination

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $1.2 in funding toward the fight against housing discrimination. The HUD official site made the announcement on May 30, 2019. The federal funding falls under the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to “support the efforts of 11 organizations to educate the public and housing providers about their rights and responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act.” April, which is Fair Housing Month, saw the agency award $15 million to similar types of organizations nationwide “to conduct a range of fair housing enforcement, capacity building and education and outreach” all designed to end discrimination at all stages of the housing process. The Secretary of HUD was quoted in a press release stating,”HUD’s efforts to fight housing discrimination are force multiplied by local fair | more...

May 29, 2019

FHA Refinance Loans: Questions To Ask

By Joe Wallace

Are you ready for a refinance loan? Maybe you seek a lower interest rate, or maybe you want to get cash back on the transaction? Whatever your motivation for applying for an FHA refinance loan, there are some important questions to ask yourself-the answers will help determine your readiness for the new loan. Have I Checked My credit Score and History Lately? All consumers are entitled to a free credit report, which you should review long before attempting a mortgage refinance. If you find any evidence of identity theft, outdated or erroneous information, you will need time to contest that problem. Contesting your credit report could involve (in the case of identity theft and related issues) filing police reports, working with investigators, etc. Do not waste your time paying for | more...

May 24, 2019

HUD Announces Minneapolis Housing Discrimination Case Settlement

By Bruce Reichstein

Sexual harassment that occurs in the context of seeking or keeping housing is a violation of federal law. Some house hunters and renters don’t realize this. They also may miss the fact that renters, house hunters, and home owners also have recourse when they are sexually harassed in the context of finding or keeping a rental property or owning a home. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a settlement in a Fair Housing case brought against David Sheets, a Minneapolis property owner. According to the HUD official site, the agency has approved an agreement “between a Minneapolis property owner and a female tenant who alleged the landlord solicited sex from her in exchange for a reduction in her rent”. The Fair Housing Act makes sexual harassment associated | more...

May 22, 2019

What Is An FHA REO Home?

By Joe Wallace

The FHA Real Estate Owned program or FHA REO program has gotten some media attention lately, which likely has more people wondering what exactly this program is. The HUD REO program, sometimes known as HUD Homes, is described on the FHA / HUD official site as “…a 1-to-4 unit residential property acquired by HUD as a result of a foreclosure action on an FHA-insured mortgage. HUD becomes the property owner and offers it for sale to recover the loss on the foreclosure claim”. The HUD Home Store is the official HUD site used to list these HUD REO homes for sale to the public, real estate brokers, state and local governments and nonprofit organizations. What does the general public need to know about buying HUD REO homes? According to HUD, | more...

May 21, 2019

Questions A First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask The Seller

By Bruce Reichstein

First-time home buyers and those who have purchased a home before but haven’t had to explore housing markets in a while should make a list of questions to ask the seller of a home placed on the real estate market. Sometimes it’s not the answer to the questions as much as the way the seller answers those questions-your ability to ask important questions in those cases is important, but so is paying attention to how the questions get answered. For example, the question, “Has the roof ever been replaced or repaired?” may get you a direct answer; “No, nothing has ever gone wrong with the roof”. But if the seller hesitates or offers a less-than-forthcoming answer, such as, “I don’t remember anything going wrong with the roof” or “No, the | more...

April 30, 2019

FHA Home Loan Basics For First-Time Home Buyers

By Joe Wallace

First-time home buyers should know as much about their home loan options as possible going into the application process. FHA home loans are a good option to consider when buying your first real estate-do you know how flexible the FHA home loan program is? FHA Home Loan Basics For New Borrowers FHA home loans are intended for owner-occupiers who want to purchase a home at least one person obligated on the mortgage will occupy as the full-time residence. FHA home loans are not need-based mortgage loans, so there is no income cap or other limitations on who can apply. Some people confuse FHA home loans with USDA mortgages, which are governmnent-backed mortgages that do require income caps and are need based, unlike FHA mortgages. Who You Borrow Money From With | more...

April 26, 2019

HUD Announces Settlement In San Diego Fair Housing Case

By Joe Wallace

April is Fair Housing Month, a time when the FHA and HUD raise awareness of Fair Housing Act issues and how violations of Fair Housing laws can make it difficult for house hunters of all kinds to find and keep a home. The month of April is not the only time when HUD publicizes its’ Fair Housing cases, but it is a time to pay more attention to these cases and their implications. The latest involves a settlement between HUD and a San Diego-based property management company that had a dispute with a rental tenant. According to a press release on the HUD official site. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced “a fair housing agreement between a San Diego-area property management company and a family with a child | more...

April 23, 2019

HUD Announces Settlement In Maine Housing Discrimination Case

By Joe Wallace

April is Fair Housing Month, and while housing discrimination headlines are nothing new, April’s are especially relevant. Discrimination at any stage in the housing process can seriously interfere with those planning to buy a home, and sometimes the only line of defense against further violations of the Fair Housing Act is having the victims report the illegal activity. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a settlement in a housing discrimination case in Maine. A press release on the HUD official site announces that “Page Realty, LLC, the owner of a Manchester, Maine, rental property, and its rental agent, Ramona Venskus, will pay $18,000 under a HUD Consent Order resolving allegations that they denied housing to families with children”. The Fair Housing Act, a federal law, prohibits housing | more...

April 22, 2019

Lower Home Prices And FHA Mortgages

By Joe Wallace

House prices in 2019 seem to be “at risk” to go lower according to some industry reports. If you are researching home prices (especially for those in housing markets on the West Coast) you may read about these issues being higher than usual for a variety of reasons. How Do Declining Home prices Affect FHA Home Loans? If the value or asking price of a neighborhood is in decline, it may affect certain options you have to negotiate with the seller. Your seller may or may not be willing to negotiate on items like the allowable six-percent-of-the-sale-price contributions toward closing costs the seller can make. Sellers may agree to pay this six percent as an incentive for the borrower to purchase the real estate. But if prices are going down | more...