The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that on January 31, the agency published “Project Approval for Single Family Condominiums,” a notice in the Federal Register seeking comment on data collection related to essential forms used to determine the eligibility of loans for borrowers who live in condominiums.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1980, the 60-day notice is seeking public comment on the renewal and revision of two data collection forms: HUD-9991 (the FHA Condominium Loan Level/Single-Unit Approval Questionnaire) and HUD-9992 (the FHA Condominium Project Approval Questionnaire).

These forms are described as “necessary to determine eligibility status for FHA single-unit or condominium project approvals,” according to an accompanying FHA INFO notice.

Relevant stakeholders and other interested parties can find and review the two forms on the Single Family Housing Draft Table, which is available at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) official website.

“These forms are needed to determine if a condominium project is eligible for FHA project approval and if a unit in an approved or unapproved condominium project is eligible for FHA-insured financing,” the notice in the Federal Register reads. “The [relevant forms] have been revised to make the questionnaires adaptable to future policy changes.”

Last August, FHA announced a new rule designed to make it easier for condo owners to get reverse mortgages and other FHA financing, establishing a new process for condominium approvals effective as of October 15, 2019. 

“For seniors, part of our mission is to provide affordable options to age in place. Condominiums can make a lot of sense for many seniors [for reasons of affordability],” said FHA Commissioner and then-Acting Deputy Secretary of HUD Brian D. Montgomery on a conference call with reporters announcing the new rule. “Our single unit review now also includes reverse mortgages, known as Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), designed to help seniors age in place.”

The announcement of the new rule was followed in September by the publication of a Mortgagee Letter (ML) which detailed the implementation of the rule, and how condo-dwelling seniors could go about qualifying for a reverse mortgage loan.

Comments submitted through the new notice’s publication in the Federal Register will be accepted through March 31, 2020. See the dedicated page at the Federal Register.

More: