Articles Tagged With: Joint Loan

June 13, 2012

FHA Loan Reader Questions: Can I Buy Another Home With An FHA Mortgage Loan?

A reader asks, “We purchased our first home using an FHA loan – 5% down. We have outgrown our home due to an expanded family and we are looking to purchase another home that is bigger – is it possible to qualify for another FHA loan – we have at most 10% to put down towards a new home. Our plan would be to rent out this current home we have as it is in a good rental area. Any advice on how we can achieve this?” FHA loan rules, according to the official site at FHA.gov, include a restriction on issuing single-family mortgage loans to investors. Due to this restriction, the official site says, “FHA generally will not insure more than one mortgage for any borrower (transactions in which | more...

February 16, 2012

Historic Settlement Between Federal Government and Five Major Banks

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced a $25 billion settlement between the government and the five largest banks in the U.S. United States Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Colorado Attorney General John W. Suthers announced the “landmark $25 billion agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses.” According to the press release, this is the largest federal-state civil settlement ever obtained and is the result of “extensive investigations by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, HUD and the HUD Office of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG), and state attorneys general and state banking regulators across the country.” The settlement includes Bank of America Corporation, | more...

July 20, 2011

FHA Requirements For Condo Units

By Joe Wallace

In our last blog post we discussed FHA rules on condo units that affect their eligibility for FHA mortgages. The FHA does not approve condo loans for any property that features deed restrictions which penalize the borrower for selling or transferring ownership of the condo to someone else. FHA regulations state that any property purchased with an FHA mortgage must be freely transferable without penalty. But those aren’t the only requirements on FHA condo loans. FHA rules include provisions for proper documentation (in conjunction with applicable state law) of homeowner’s agreements, and statements of understanding between condo owners about shared responsibility for property management. FHA borrowers new to condominium ownership might not know that the responsibilities of condo ownership include shared duties and costs such as facility maintenance, code compliance, | more...

June 1, 2011

FHA Announces Green Refinancing Program for Multi-Family Buildings

By Joe Wallace

According to an FHA press release, “Approximately every 10-to-15 years, owners of existing multifamily affordable properties typically refinance their mortgages.” The release goes on to say that those who purchased older buildings may find it difficult to get approved for “additional financing to maintain or improve the physical condition of their properties, including making energy-efficient upgrades.” That’s where the FHA’s new program comes in. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced Green Refinance Plus, a joint program offered between the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie Mae. Green Refinance Plus allow owners of “existing affordable rental housing properties to refinance into new mortgages that include funding for energy- and water-saving upgrades, along with other needed property renovations.” In the press release, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan was quoted | more...

April 7, 2011

More on FHA Loans for More Than One Home

By Joe Wallace

In recent posts, we’ve discussed the FHA rules for borrowers who want to apply for a second FHA insured loan in addition to the one they already hold. Generally speaking, the FHA does not allow people to have two FHA home loans at the same time, but there is a degree of flexibility in the rules–borrowers who want to buy a second home with an FHA mortgage are only allowed to do so under specific circumstances. For example, someone who relocates to a new area that is not within a reasonable commuting distance from the first home may be allowed to apply for an FHA loan to purchase a second property. The same is true when a home owner outgrows the first home because it no longer has room for | more...

April 6, 2011

FHA Loans: Can a Borrower Have More Than One?

By Joe Wallace

For the typical home owner, applying for an FHA loan is a major financial commitment. The monthly mortgage payments are an important part of any budget and borrowers are encouraged to plan carefully before closing the deal to make sure they will be able to afford the loan over the lifetime of the FHA insured mortgage. Some FHA borrowers have circumstances that get them thinking about a second FHA loan for any number of reasons. Some borrowers decide to invest in real estate, others may be required to relocate to another state for career purposes, others may be non-occupying co-borrowers on an FHA loan. Can a borrower have more than one FHA loan at a time? On the surface, the FHA answer seems to be no. According to the FHA, | more...