Articles Tagged With: FHA Loan

Can I get an FHA home loan if I owe back taxes?

May 11, 2017

FHA Loans And Income Verification Requirements

FHA loan income verification requirements include submitting tax data as part of the application process. Your lender may require tax returns and other paperwork; depending on the transaction these requirements may include additional forms of documentation. A reader got in touch recently in our comments section to ask about these income verification issues. “Our lender is asking for two years of tax returns. We have not filed for 2016 yet. We apply for and get an extension every year and have until October since we are freelancers…Can we just submit 2014 & 2015 for now to apply for the loan? We have pay stubs for 2016 as proof for income and it is greater than what we have made the priors years. Although, it seems to be a problem that | more...

May 8, 2017

FHA Loan Fees: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

A reader asked us a question in the comments section recently about FHA loan fees. “What is the total that lender can charge on an FHA loan?” Unfortunately there is no single answer to this question. FHA loans, and all mortgage loans, have costs that will vary depending on the lender, the transaction, whether or not sellers agree to pay some of the closing costs or other expenses. etc. Even the FHA loan funding fee, which is a standard part of all this, is based on a percentage of the mortgage amount. That amount naturally varies depending on the transaction. FHA loan rules in HUD 4000.1 instruct the lender: “The Mortgagee or sponsored TPO may charge a reasonable origination fee. The Mortgagee or sponsored TPO may charge and collect from | more...

May 2, 2017

Cash To Close And Earnest Money: FHA Loan Rules

By Joe Wallace

All home loans have requirements for cash to close the deal, earnest money, and down payments. The FHA loan rules for these are found in HUD 4000.1, which has instructions to the lender on how to verify and process these payments. For example, on page 296 of HUD 4000.1, we learn the following: “The Mortgagee may only consider assets derived from acceptable sources in accordance with the requirements outlined below. Closing costs, prepaid items and other fees may not be applied towards the Borrowers Minimum Required Investment” also known as the down payment. Sources of cash to close and earnest money must be properly documented by the lender. FHA loan rules do not permit non-collateralized loans such as credit card cash advances or payday loans to be used for the | more...

May 2, 2017

HUD Extends 203(h) Disaster Relief For Louisiana Flood Victims

By Bruce Reichstein

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced an extension of certain disaster relief help for those in certain federal disaster areas in Louisiana. According to a mortgagee letter published on the HUD/FHA official site, HUD announces, “the additional period of eligibility” for Section 203(h) mortgages, which comes as an extension of “Federal Assistance for victims of the March 13, 2016 and August 14, 2016 Presidentially-Declared Major Disaster Areas of Louisiana”. According to the HUD official site, the 203(h) program period of eligibility “is extended for case numbers assigned on or before September 8, 2017” for the following Presidentially-Declared Major Disaster Areas: -Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding (DR-4263) declared on March 13, 2016; and -Louisiana Severe Storms and Flooding (DR-4277) declared on August 14, 2016. Normally, such assistance is | more...

April 28, 2017

Fair Housing Month And HUD

By Joe Wallace

Fair Housing Month ends this weekend. This month-long campaign to raise awareness of Fair Housing laws is an important one, which includes measures taken by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help house hunters and apartment seekers alike to get fair consideration when applying to find or buy a home. Those measures in 2017 include a trying to raise awareness of certain persistent types of discrimination. According to the HUD official site, one version is particularly troublesome. “Every type of discrimination robs individuals and families of their right to choose where to live, but one form of discrimination HUD is particularly active in addressing is discrimination against families with children, known as familial status discrimination.” HUD states that every year, more than ten percent of all Fair Housing | more...

April 27, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Moving Higher

By Joe Wallace

Since our last report, mortgage rate numbers went from an incursion into sub-four percent territory for the most competitive lenders back up to highs we haven’t seen in approximately two weeks. Domestic tax policy, overseas election drama, and other factors have played a part in the recent ups and downs, but what we’re seeing is short-term influences rather than indications of a possible long-term trend. At the moment it’s tough to say what the mid-to-long term direction of rates might be. We’re in an uncertain period and much of our reporting lately on mortgage rate movement has to do with these short term issues. At the time of this writing, 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are back to a range between the very bottom of the four percent range and | more...

Buying A Fixer-Upper With An FHA 203(k) Rehab Loan

April 26, 2017

FHA Loans For Additional Homes: A Reader Question

By Bruce Reichstein

Are FHA loans for multiple properties possible? That’s what’s on one reader’s mind recently. “So is there a maximum number of properties one can theoretically have under FHA guidelines?” “Say for example a person owns a home in one city with an FHA mortgage and then has to relocate to another city for job reasons. While in this city there family size increases by several individuals via marriage and or kids. Would that person be able to get a 3rd FHA? mortgage.” This reader question about FHA loans is in response to a blog post we did recently about the issue of applying for another FHA mortgage while currently paying on an existing FHA home loan. The gist of that post is that while FHA loan rules do not generally | more...

April 25, 2017

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Higher

By Joe Wallace

Since our last report, we’ve seen rates climbing again, but the most recent uptick in numbers has a lot to do with global political headlines rather than domestic economic issues or market corrections. The election results in France have certain implications-one candidate favors a French version of Brexit and investors watching the results unfold have reacted in ways unfavorable to mortgage loan interest rates. At the time of this writing, we’re seeing upward movement in rates; 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages are in a best execution range between 4.0 and 4.125%-remember last week we reported some aggressive lenders were offering best execution rates below the four percent line for the first time in a long while. FHA mortgage loan rates are reported at the time of this writing in a | more...

How much can I borrow with an FHA refinance loan?

April 24, 2017

Are You Ready For An FHA Mortgage?

By Joe Wallace

Are you ready to apply for an FHA mortgage in 2017? There are several areas that borrowers should spend plenty of time examining before filling out paperwork or online forms to apply or get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. Credit Reports If you do not know what your lender will see when she pulls your credit report, there’s a good chance you are not ready to fill out FHA loan paperwork. Why? Because if there are errors on your report, questions over certain accounts that may need to be disputed or contested, evidence of identity theft, those will all need to be dealt with before you apply for your loan. A lender can work with a borrower who has disputed accounts still pending (assuming the lender’s standards permit) but if | more...

April 24, 2017

FHA Loans and Alimony/Child Support

By Joe Wallace

A reader asked a question in our comments section about FHA loan rules for alimony and child support payments: “What is a voluntary payment agreement? I am divorced its a closed case and I actually pay a little more than what we agreed to in the official settlement agreement. Shes now trying to buy a house and will be dealing with the whole proving amount of alimony/child support and its very difficult to amend a closed case.” “If we have an agreement between ourselves for (x) dollars/month for (x) amount of time and have this notarized, would this constitute a voluntary payment agreement?” The reader is referencing an earlier blog post from 2013, which includes the following about how the lender may consider alimony and child support as part of | more...