Articles Tagged With: FHA Loan

February 8, 2017

HUD Charges Oklahoma Landlords With Fair Housing Act Violations

Fair Housing Act laws help protect house hunters no matter what phase of the process they might be at, and it also offers protections for those seeking rental housing. Violations of Fair Housing laws can hinder those hoping to buy with FHA loans, conventional loans or other mortgages at some point, even if they aren’t actively looking to purchase at the moment. That’s why we report on Fair Housing cases from time to time-current and future loan applicants should know their rights and what to do if they encounter unfair treatment along the way. HUD recently announced on its official site that it is bringing charges against Oklahoma landlords for violations of Fair housing law. According to a press release on the HUD site that, “…it is charging the landlords | more...

February 6, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Higher, Lower

By Joe Wallace

Last week, mortgage rate numbers basically see-sawed within the range we’ve been looking at ever since the new year began. Mortgage rates began last week lower, but moved up and down from Wednesday on due to a variety of economic data releases and investor reaction to them. The Fed also made a statement last week that negatively affected rates. The causes of the ups and downs are not directly tied to rate performance, but investor reaction to the economic developments and data of last week does affect rates. Overall, we’re seeing about the same rates at the time of this writing as we reported last week, more or less, but changes in closing costs will be apparent to borrowers affected by those changes. At the time of this writing, 30-year | more...

January 31, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Opening Lower

By Joe Wallace

Mortgage rates ended last week nearly exactly where they started after some ups and downs, and on Monday rates opened the week a bit lower. However, the lower rate just pushes things back closer to the bottom part of what market watchers have labeled the new, higher range. We started seeing that higher range come into plat at or near election time-markets hate uncertainty and investor behavior between November 2016 and January 2917 has demonstrated that rather well. At first it wasn’t clear what was going to happen with short-term mortgage rate trends in general, but now we see that new and higher range at work in the short term. There are always influences (world news and events, economic data, unexpected changes in regulations or new legislation) that can alter | more...

January 30, 2017

FHA Appraisals and Inspections: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

FHA appraisals are NOT the same as home inspections. This week we received a question about the appraisal process that serves as a reminder of this. A reader asks: “I purchased a home that was funded by FHA but the foundation is in significant disrepair it. There are whole sections where the beams are not being supported by anything therefore the beams will eventually not be able to sustain the floor. Approximately 30 Jacks or posts need to be added, addition to a few beams, most significantly in one 8 X 31-foot section of the house where there is nothing supporting it other than the outside foundation wall on one side.” “Basically it needs $35.000+ of work. The FHA guideline says that a structure has to be in good repair | more...

January 25, 2017

Cash Back To The Borrower and FHA Loans

By Joe Wallace

Do FHA loans permit cash back to the borrower? We get many reader questions in our comments section about this subject. Some want to know if they can borrow more than the cost of the home and use the excess funds for personal use. Others want to know if cash-back refinance options are available on FHA mortgages. The rules that govern cash back to the borrower can be found in HUD 4000.1. As a general rule, FHA loans for “forward mortgages”, which means typical house purchases, do not allow cash back to the borrower. There’s an exception for money that was paid up front for something that was later permitted to be included into the loan amount. That would be considered a refund and is not forbidden by FHA loan | more...

January 24, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Sharply Improved

By Joe Wallace

You may have noticed some extra coverage of mortgage rate trends in the last few weeks; rates have moved up and down in ways that seem to insist on added coverage, and Monday’s mortgage rate activity was definitely that. Rates recovered ground lost in the previous week and part of the reasons for that are also the reasons we saw higher rates in our last report; there is still a great deal of uncertainty among the markets and investors when it comes to economic policy, how the new administration will deal with overseas trade and other important issues. Mortgage rate trends currently reflect this uncertainty. Investors reacted to the earliest activity from the new regime in Washington D.C. and those reactions helped push mortgage rates lower. We’re now seeing a | more...

January 23, 2017

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends: Higher

By Joe Wallace

Mortgage loan interest rate trends have been up and down within a certain range in the new year, but uncertainty over the new administration in Washington D.C. has investors skittish. Since our last report we’ve seen mortgage loan rates push higher, with some lenders hitting 4.375% territory (best execution). For 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgages, our sources say that means that at the time of this writing, there’s a best execution range that starts at or near 4.125% (a smaller number of lenders offering this) and ending with Friday’s at-or-near 4.375% for other lenders. FHA mortgage rates are at the time of this writing still holding at a best execution 3.75%, but that’s likely to change soon if the upward trend remains. As always, the rates you see listed here | more...

January 17, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Edging Higher

By Joe Wallace

Markets were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, so today’s post should be read with that in mind. Since our last report, mortgage rate trends have taken a turn upward. That move has given back some of the gains mentioned in our last report, but at the time of this writing we’re still looking at changes small enough to be reflected mostly in closing costs for affected borrowers, but some lenders have repriced as we’ll see below. The upward move comes in spite of some retail sales economic data that has (in the past) helped mortgage rates rather than hurt them, but the existence of data of that nature doesn’t guarantee movement in mortgage rates; it all depends on investor reaction to the data. And we | more...

January 16, 2017

Mortgage Rate Trends: Edging Higher

By Joe Wallace

Since our last report, mortgage rate trends have taken a turn upward. That move has given back some of the gains mentioned in our last report, but at the time of this writing we’re still looking at changes small enough to be reflected mostly in closing costs for affected borrowers, but some lenders have repriced as we’ll see below. The upward move comes in spite of some retail sales economic data that has (in the past) helped mortgage rates rather than hurt them, but the existence of data of that nature doesn’t guarantee movement in mortgage rates; it all depends on investor reaction to the data. And we know that investor reactions aren’t always predictable and don’t always follow historical precedent. 30-year fixed rate conventional mortgage loan interest rates are | more...

January 9, 2017

Collection Accounts and FHA Loans

By Joe Wallace

We’ve had some recent questions about home loans and collection accounts lately; in light of those questions it seemed like a good time to review the FHA loan rules on collection accounts as found in HUD 4000.1. The FHA loan rule book has instructions for the lender on what to do when reviewing such credit report data and it never hurts to know what your loan officer’s marching orders are in this area-at least where FHA minimum standards are concerned. The information below may be supplemented or affected by lender standards, so know that you’ll need to see what’s possible with a specific lender if any of the rules quoted here apply to your circumstances. Lender standards will definitely apply in addition to what’s found in HUD 4000.1. Let’s begin | more...