Federal Housing Administration

The Obama administration's new plan to stimulate refinancings of FHA mortgages is likely to help large numbers of homeowners — even those who are deeply underwater — cut their monthly costs by switching to a loan with a rate below 4%. Here's a quick overview of the "streamline refi" program and what it will take for you to qualify. First, the baseline criteria: Your current home loan must be FHA-insured and must have been put on the Federal Housing Administration's books no later than May 31, 2009.

The lending landscape shifted measurably this month when the standard-bearer for first-time buyers and low-to-moderate income borrowers became more expensive than its private business counterpart. On April 1, fees for low-down-payment mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration rose for the third time in two years. The hike in fees serves a twofold purpose: to help shore up the FHA's sagging mortgage insurance fund, which is dangerously low; and to reduce the government's footprint in the mortgage market.

A task force advised the White House on Friday against selling the Federal Housing Administration, which provides mortgage assistance to millions of Americans. "The task force believes that an outright sale of the FHA would be unlikely to attract buyers at a price the government would find adequate or to satisfy other desirable sale considerations," the study group, sponsored by the Housing and Urban Development Department, said in a report.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Housing Administration helped stabilize the real estate market after the subprime bubble and lay the groundwork for the recovery - and now the bill for taxpayers might be coming due. The Obama administration's proposed budget released Wednesday projected that the agency, which insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages, would need a $943-million bailout this year to stabilize its shaky long-term finances. It would be the first time the FHA, which is financed by the premiums it charges homeowners, has needed taxpayer funds in its 79-year history.

The Federal Housing Administration--crushed by the combined impact of mounting home mortgage defaults in the Southwest, massive defaults by a handful of mortgage co-insurance companies and a portfolio of soured hospital loans--lost $4.2 billion last year and has a deficit of $2.9 billion, the General Accounting Office said Wednesday. Raising the specter of another multibillion-dollar taxpayer bailout on the heels of the savings and loan crisis, Comptroller General Charles A.

The lending landscape shifted measurably this month when the standard-bearer for first-time buyers and low-to-moderate income borrowers became more expensive than its private business counterpart. On April 1, fees for low-down-payment mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration rose for the third time in two years. The hike in fees serves a twofold purpose: to help shore up the FHA's sagging mortgage insurance fund, which is dangerously low; and to reduce the government's footprint in the mortgage market.

The federal government Monday announced that it is dramatically expanding a pilot program that enables elderly homeowners to meet living expenses or get extra cash by tapping the equity in their house through a so-called reverse mortgage. Effective immediately, the mortgages are being offered by thousands of lenders authorized to make Federal Housing Administration-insured loans.

WASHINGTON — Two federal agencies with far-reaching influence over the mortgage market are working on a problem that could affect the ability of many consumers to obtain a home loan: How to encourage private lenders to ease up on their underwriting restrictions that go beyond what the agencies themselves require for mortgage approvals. Both the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, which runs the low-down-payment FHA program, are considering steps they might take to persuade lenders to open the mortgage spigots a little wider.

Could the federal government's booming FHA mortgage program be forcing homeowners to pay tens of millions of dollars of extra interest charges when they sell their houses or refinance their loans? Critics say yes. The government says the critics aren't providing the full picture. Those critics include Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), who is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit Federal Housing Administration lenders from collecting a full month's worth of interest from sellers and refinancers who pay off their mortgages — close escrow — before the final day of the month.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Housing Administration helped stabilize the real estate market after the subprime bubble and lay the groundwork for the recovery - and now the bill for taxpayers might be coming due. The Obama administration's proposed budget released Wednesday projected that the agency, which insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages, would need a $943-million bailout this year to stabilize its shaky long-term finances. It would be the first time the FHA, which is financed by the premiums it charges homeowners, has needed taxpayer funds in its 79-year history.

WASHINGTON - Taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back in the black, but it's unlikely to keep the nation's housing finance giants from being dismantled. Boosted by the recovery in the housing market, Fannie Mae on Tuesday reported a record annual profit of $17.2 billion for last year, a sharp turnaround from a $16.9-billion loss in 2011. In February, Freddie Mac reported net income of $11 billion, compared with a loss of $5.3 billion the previous year. Their first annual profits in six years also have helped the companies reduce the balance of the combined $187.5 billion they received in a government rescue in 2008 when they hovered near bankruptcy amid the crash in the subprime housing market.

WASHINGTON — Two federal agencies with far-reaching influence over the mortgage market are working on a problem that could affect the ability of many consumers to obtain a home loan: How to encourage private lenders to ease up on their underwriting restrictions that go beyond what the agencies themselves require for mortgage approvals. Both the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, which runs the low-down-payment FHA program, are considering steps they might take to persuade lenders to open the mortgage spigots a little wider.

The Obama administration's new plan to stimulate refinancings of FHA mortgages is likely to help large numbers of homeowners — even those who are deeply underwater — cut their monthly costs by switching to a loan with a rate below 4%. Here's a quick overview of the "streamline refi" program and what it will take for you to qualify. First, the baseline criteria: Your current home loan must be FHA-insured and must have been put on the Federal Housing Administration's books no later than May 31, 2009.

Citigroup Inc. is paying $158 million to settle accusations that it took advantage of a federal mortgage insurance program. In a settlement with the Justice Department, Citi admitted that it provided misleading information about the quality of its mortgages to a federal insurance program run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The government provided backing for the mortgages and ended up losing millions when the borrowers defaulted. In the complaint filed Wednesday as part of the settlement, the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan said CitiMortgage violated the rules of the Federal Housing Administration insurance program for six years until it was subpoenaed in July.

There might yet be another casualty in the real estate market: the Federal Housing Administration. With home prices still seeking their bottom, the federal agency that insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages faces a nearly 50% chance that it could need a taxpayer bailout next year, according to a government report released Tuesday. If the housing market fails to rebound next year, the FHA would need as much as $43 billion from the U.S. Treasury to stay afloat, the report said.

Could the federal government's booming FHA mortgage program be forcing homeowners to pay tens of millions of dollars of extra interest charges when they sell their houses or refinance their loans? Critics say yes. The government says the critics aren't providing the full picture. Those critics include Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), who is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit Federal Housing Administration lenders from collecting a full month's worth of interest from sellers and refinancers who pay off their mortgages — close escrow — before the final day of the month.

WASHINGTON - Taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are back in the black, but it's unlikely to keep the nation's housing finance giants from being dismantled. Boosted by the recovery in the housing market, Fannie Mae on Tuesday reported a record annual profit of $17.2 billion for last year, a sharp turnaround from a $16.9-billion loss in 2011. In February, Freddie Mac reported net income of $11 billion, compared with a loss of $5.3 billion the previous year. Their first annual profits in six years also have helped the companies reduce the balance of the combined $187.5 billion they received in a government rescue in 2008 when they hovered near bankruptcy amid the crash in the subprime housing market.

Homeowners who trade in loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration could be in for a big payday, and not just in the form of a lower interest rate and correspondingly lower payments. If your old FHA loan is less than 3 years old, you will be getting back some of the insurance premium you paid at closing. But only if you take out another government-insured mortgage. If you refinance into any other type of loan ? one guaranteed by a private insurer, for example, or perhaps a conventional mortgage without any coverage at all ?

Homeowners who trade in loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration could be in for a big payday, and not just in the form of a lower interest rate and correspondingly lower payments. If your old FHA loan is less than 3 years old, you will be getting back some of the insurance premium you paid at closing. But only if you take out another government-insured mortgage. If you refinance into any other type of loan ? one guaranteed by a private insurer, for example, or perhaps a conventional mortgage without any coverage at all ?

Condominium owners who are trying to sell in today's agonizingly slow housing market should make sure that their community is on the Federal Housing Administration's approved list. Ditto for someone who is thinking about refinancing a condo. Under a little-noticed edict put in place in December, the FHA is no longer approving mortgages on condominium units on a spot, loan-by-loan basis. Now the entire project must be cleared by the agency before a buyer can purchase a unit in the community with a government-insured mortgage or an owner can trade in his loan for a less expensive one backed by the FHA. That's important because FHA financing is being used more frequently today than at practically any other time in the agency's 76-year history.