New Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance premiums will take effect this week, after changes were passed in March to help strengthen the agency’s mutual mortgage insurance fund. For FHA-insured forward loans grater than 15 years that have a less than or equal to 95% loan-to-value ratio, the new premium effective today is 120 basis points. [...]

Federal Housing Administration lenders will soon be able to apply for FHA approval online. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is now preparing to launch the new online application, which will be effective later this spring, the department announced this week. Lenders seeking new FHA approval will submit the application through an online portal [...]

There are half as many tax and insurance defaults for Federal Housing Administration reverse mortgages in the most recent vintage of loans when compared to past years, agency officials told industry professionals last week in New York City. Speaking before the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association annual eastern regional conference, Department of Housing and Urban [...]

The number of reverse mortgages that can be insured by the Federal Housing Administration remains in question after a congressional hearing this week. A House Financial Services Committee markup this week brought the issue to light in discussing a potential amendment introduced by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (D-Pa.) that would eliminate the cap currently held on [...]

When the Financial Interview Tool (FIT) was rolled out as part of the new reverse mortgage counseling protocols in August 2010, many in the industry felt the Department of Housing and Urban Development had gone too far Developed by the National Council of Aging (NCOA), the tool is a guide that counselors use to ask a [...]

The Federal Housing Administration announced the details of its efforts to lower the costs of refinancing for borrowers with loans insured by the agency. Starting on June 11, 2012, FHA will lower its upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) to 0.01% and reduce its annual premium to 0.55% for certain FHA borrowers. In order to qualify, [...]