Articles Tagged With: FHA Updates

November 12, 2014

FHA Mortgage Rate Trends: Up and Down

Since our last report on FHA mortgage rate trends, we’ve seen some ups and down with mortgage loan rates in general, but the overall trend seems to be upward. Last Friday was a highly anticipated jobs report, and ahead of that last Thursday we saw rates hold steady. After the report came out on Friday mortgage loan rates did gain back some of the ground lost earlier in the week, but come Monday those gains began slipping away again. Tuesday was Veterans Day so markets were closed and there was no rate movement to report–but on Wednesday it was a bit of false hope to start the day with rates beginning stronger but ultimately weakening by day’s end. What does all this mean? At the time of this writing, 30-year | more...

November 5, 2014

FHA Loans and Social Security Numbers: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “I live in a community state property. My husband does not have a social security number to run his credit. How can I proceed with a FHA loan without being able to run a credit report on my husband?” FHA loan rules are very specific when it comes to the identity and documentation requirements for all parties to be obligated on an FHA home loan. According to HUD 4155.1 Chapter One, Section B, the following applies: “All borrowers, including United States (U.S.) citizens, must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) and must provide evidence of that SSN to the lender. The lender is responsible for • documenting an SSN for each borrower, coborrower, or cosigner on the mortgage • validating each SSN either through − entering | more...

October 31, 2014

FHA Loans: What Can Affect Your Loan Amount?

By Joe Wallace

One of the first questions on the minds of many borrowers is a logical one: “How much can I borrow?” There’s no single answer for this as county loan guaranty limits apply, and in general the amount of the FHA home loan is based on the sale price of the home or the appraised value, whichever is lower. When it comes to home loan refinancing, the appraised value of the property is very important. There are factors that can affect the amount of the FHA home loan for new purchases or refinance loans beyond those factors. For example, if you choose to finance allowable fees and expenses (including some discount points depending on the transaction and lender policies) your loan amount will increase. If you make a larger down payment, | more...

October 30, 2014

FHA Loans and Earnest Money: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “I have a property listed and in escrow with an FHA buyer who was so confident that she would get the loan (the lender provided a fully approved letter, contingent on final review and appraisal), that she agreed to unconditionally release the EMD to my seller.” “Long-story-short, the buyer decided that in light of suspicions that she might not be approved in the final review, she would cancel the loan process and kill the deal. Now she wants her released EMD back and her agent claims there are FHA regulations that demand the return. I cannot find them. Do they exist? What do they say?” The reader doesn’t specify, but we assume the acronym “EMD” stands for “earnest money deposit”. With that in mind: This is a | more...

October 29, 2014

FHA Loan Rules and Seller Costs: A Reader Question

By Joe Wallace

A reader asks, “What costs will a seller incur if a buyer is using an FHA loan to purchase?” That is a difficult question to answer for a variety of reasons–state real estate law, lender requirements and FHA loan rules all have a say in the closing costs of a FHA home loan. There’s no itemized list of seller costs listed in the FHA loan rulebook, HUD 4155.1, but the FHA does make a list of certain costs and/or seller contributions to the sale that are and are not permitted. For example, the borrower is not to be charged for pest/termite inspections. The borrower can’t pay for the lender’s legal counsel, and the FHA has a set of regulations that dictate how much the seller can contribute toward the sale | more...

October 16, 2014

FHA Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends For October 13-17 2014

By Joe Wallace

If you are interested in an FHA home loan this week or have been keeping an eye on FHA mortgage loan rates, you know this has been a particularly good time for mortgage rates. For a large part of the year we have seen the best execution rates for FHA home loans persisting at around 3.75%, down from an earlier long-held best execution rate average at or just above 4%, depending on the lender. Volatile market conditions this week contributed to downward movement for interest rates–FHA mortgage rates have fallen from their long-held 3.75% comfort zone and fell into a range of rates between 3.375% and 3.5% best execution. Some borrowers may get confused over the reports of “best execution” rates–what does this term mean? “Best execution” mortgage loan rates are those | more...

October 16, 2014

HUD Awards Millions To Help Fight Housing Discrimination

By Joe Wallace

In recent weeks we’ve seen a variety of press releases from the FHA/HUD discussing settlements in cases where HUD investigated alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and other anti-discrimination housing laws. Now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a press release announcing millions of dollars in federal funds being awarded to agencies trying to raise awareness of Fair Housing laws. According to HUDNo. 14-123, “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $38.3 million to more than 100 fair housing organizations and other non-profit agencies in 43 states and the District of Columbia to address housing discrimination.” The HUD press release says that competitive grants in this area are funded via the HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program, “to help enforce the Fair Housing | more...

October 10, 2014

FHA Home Loans and Maternity Discrimination: The Wells Fargo Case

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have taken a special interest in ending home loan discrimination against those who are pregnant or on maternity leave. Since 2010 HUD has received nearly 200 maternity leave discrimination complaints; the Fair Housing Act makes it a crime to “discriminate in real estate related transactions, including the provision of home mortgage loans, on the bases of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status” according to the FHA official site. A recent HUD press release announces a major settlement between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. According to HUDNo.14-124, HUD “has reached a $5 million settlement with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, the nation’s largest provider of home mortgage loans, resolving allegations that the lender discriminated against women who | more...

October 9, 2014

HUD Settles “Redlining” Discrimination Complaint

By Joe Wallace

Have you ever wanted to apply for an FHA home loan only to experience what may be illegal discrimination forbidden by the Fair Housing Act? In some cases the discrimination may not even reach the borrowers themselves, as evidenced by a recent settlement announced by the HUD official site. According to a October 2014 press release issued on the FHA/HUD official site, “The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has negotiated a Conciliation Agreement with Illinois-based Midland States Bancorp, resolving allegations that the bank avoided doing business in predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods in St. Louis, Missouri and northern Illinois.” Federal Fair Housing Act laws state that it is illegal to, “deny or discriminate in the terms and conditions of a mortgage or loan | more...

September 26, 2014

FHA Mortgage Rate News For The Week of September 22 2014

By Joe Wallace

September has been a rough month for FHA mortgage loan rates–there’s been an upward trend fueled at least in part by the recent Fed policy statement, which many anticipated as a possible indicator of where rates might be headed (predicting investor reaction to an announcement that indicated a stronger or weaker economy). But this week, we saw rates moving lower–the best execution numbers haven’t really changed, but the downward trend is a welcome one. In many cases borrowers will see the lower moves reflected in closing costs rather than in actual lower interest rates, but if the downward movement continues we may well see FHA rates shift out of their current range of numbers and back into the lower best execution rate of 3.75%. The downward trend we saw this | more...