Mortgage Insurance

FHA Reform Gains Momentum — Again 

Long an item on the industry’s agenda, efforts to modernize the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration are again gaining momentum as the subprime borrower crisis brings federal housing programs to the forefront as a possible solution. Officials at HUD yesterday called again for the Senate to take up an FHA proposal that swept through the U.S. House of Representatives last year by a 415-7 vote, saying that statutory FHA reform was necessary to fill a void in the subprime lending market. Adding to the chorus, the National Association of Realtors also yesterday sent a letter to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, urging action by HUD to change FHA rules and waive the requirement that a homeowner’s mortgage be “current” in order to refinance into an FHA loan product.