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Federal Housing Administration (FHA)


Self Description

February 2004: "Since its inception in 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has provided vital public services contributing to the health and well-being of individuals and communities through its nationally administered programs. After being consolidated into the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Housing in 1965, the FHA continued its core mission of contributing to the building and maintenance of healthy, prosperous neighborhoods and expanding opportunities for affordable home ownership, rental housing and healthcare. Congress created the FHA in 1934 to help the country get back on the road to economic recovery..."

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/hsgabout.cfm

Third-Party Descriptions

March 2012: "Borrowers who have a mortgage held by Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) or Freddie Mac (FRE) -- roughly half the market -- are out of luck. Loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration are also ineligible."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/13/real_estate/mortgage-settlement/index.htm

October 2008: "The Hope for Homeowners plan is supposed to help up to 400,000 homeowners who can't afford their mortgage payments and who can't refinance to get a lower rate because they owe more than their houses are worth. Without help, these people will end up in foreclosure. Hope for Homeowners encourages lenders to forgive some of the debt of these troubled homeowners so they can refinance into mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA. Criteria for eligibility for Hope for Homeowners • The house has to be the borrower's primary residence. It can't be a second home or investment property. • The mortgage must have been originated before Jan. 2, 2008. The borrower must have made at least six payments. • Payments are unaffordable without help. • House payments are more than 31 percent of before-tax income. • The borrower didn't lie on the loan application, hasn't intentionally defaulted on debts and hasn't been convicted of fraud in the last 10 years."

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/20081009-hope-homeowners-a1.asp

November 2007: The Federal Housing Administration published a new rule banning down payment assistance in September from the seller, anyone who benefits from the sale, a third party reimbursed by the seller or someone else benefiting financially.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/339241_downpayment12.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Owned by (partial or full, past or present) Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Organization Feb 3, 2004
Organization Executive (past or present) Shaun Donovan MS Person Apr 22, 2010

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Mar 13, 2012 Rage grows over mortgage deal

QUOTE: As more details emerge about the massive $26 billion foreclosure settlement between the five biggest mortgage lenders and the states' attorneys general, a growing number of borrowers are realizing that the deal will do little, if anything, to help them out.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Apr 07, 2011 10 things that could ruin your day if the government shuts down

QUOTE: Roughly 800,000 federal workers won't get paid because they're considered nonessential and therefore, the first to be furloughed... Troops, including those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, may not be paid on time... A government shutdown doesn't actually save taxpayers money.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Mar 26, 2011 A Dream Still Deferred

QUOTE: The story of housing discrimination that has dominated American urban life since the early 20th century is far from over. In the Detroit metropolitan area, blacks are moving into so-called secondhand suburbs: established communities with deteriorating housing stock that are falling out of favor with younger white homebuyers… Such towns also typically have poorer services and fewer job opportunities than wealthier suburbs — where, despite strong antidiscrimination laws, it is still harder for blacks to find housing.

 New York Times
Sep 07, 2009 Mortgage Market Bound by Major U.S. Role: Classes of Borrowers Cannot Find Loans as Publicly Backed Debt Mounts (Consequences of the Crisis Part 2)

QUOTE: the government's newly dominant role... has far-reaching consequences for prospective home buyers and taxpayers. The government has the power to decide who is qualified for a loan and who is not. As a result, many borrowers among both poor and rich are frozen out of the market.

 Washington Post
Dec 26, 2008 Firms Charge Thousands To Modify Mortgages: Nonprofits Offer Service For Free, Advocates Say

QUOTE: "Once a borrower pays an unscrupulous loss-mitigation consultant and time is wasted, the damage has been done," said Sarah Bloom Raskin, Maryland's commissioner of financial regulation. "While we may be able to recover fees, we can never recover the lost time -- time that the borrower could have used to work out a bona fide loan modification."

 Washington Post
Oct 09, 2008 Will the federal mortgage plan help you?

QUOTE: Under the mortgage relief programs, some people will get reduced interest rates, either temporarily or permanently. Others will have a portion of their home debt wiped away. Some will get a combination of reduced rate and loan forgiveness. Still others will wind up disappointed.

 Bankrate.com
Mar 31, 2008 Mortgage mess: Who gets help and who pays? Debate over what's fair and what's wise is likely to intensify as US tries to contain the crisis.

QUOTE: Questions of fairness are sure to figure in the policy debate – and are already surfacing on the presidential campaign trail, on talk radio, and in congressional committee rooms. The people who might get bailed out, after all, include the same reckless lenders and often-speculative borrowers who helped cause the mess.

 Christian Science Monitor
Mar 31, 2008 HUD chief resigns amid ethics investigations

QUOTE: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned Monday, amid multiple ethics investigations and criticism from top lawmakers.... Jackson has recently been accused in a lawsuit of retaliating against housing officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for blocking a land deal with one of Jackson's friends. The FBI has been investigating allegations that Jackson steered a federal contract to a golfing buddy based in South Carolina.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Nov 11, 2007 FHA ban on down payment assistance put on hold: Providers fighting for home-buying program in court

QUOTE: "a move by federal regulators to shut down programs that provide down payment assistance using money from home sellers. The problem is that assistance ends up added to purchase prices, said Richard Hager, a Mercer Island appraiser who teaches anti-fraud classes."

 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Jul 03, 2007 Predators Bilk Struggling Homeowners

QUOTE: With the housing market in decline, financial predators are finding yet another way to take advantage of people who fall behind on their payments...someone else takes over the deed, borrows as much as possible against the value of the house and pockets the cash. And, almost always, the homeowners still end up losing their homes.

 New York Times
May 25, 2006 IRS ruling endangers down-payment charities

QUOTE: The [Internal Revenue Service-Ed.] wants to close a loophole...ruled this month that nonprofit down-payment-assistance programs don't qualify for tax exemptions if they transfer money from the seller to the buyer.

 Bankrate.com
Dec 15, 2005 FBI Vows to Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud: Hot Real Estate Market Drives Reports of 'Suspicious' Activity, Agency Says

QUOTE: The federal government yesterday announced a crackdown on what officials called the "growing epidemic" of mortgage fraud, with organized rings of real estate operatives bilking consumers and lenders out of billions of dollars.

 Washington Post
Apr 10, 2004 Some FHA Borrowers Find There's More to Pay At End of Mortgage

QUOTE: When you pay off your mortgage, the interest charges stop immediately, right?

Washington Post
Jan 17, 2004 Taking Control of an Escrow Account

QUOTE: You're required [in escrow accounts] to pay prorated amounts for hazard insurance premiums, property taxes, private mortgage or Federal Housing Administration insurance, condo fees and other expense items that come due during the year.

 Washington Post
Jun 29, 2002 Mortgage Proposal Designed To Prevent Sticker Shock

QUOTE: Mortgage companies and banks would compete for borrowers not simply with interest-rate quotes, but also with total-expense packages -- interest rates plus all fees -- that they would be required to honor at settlement.

 Washington Post