FHA

The industry welcomed a proposed overhaul of how the government identifies False Claims Act violations, but some say it remains to be seen if the changes are enough to satisfy companies that had bolted.

Two nonprofits threatened by the effort say the Department of Housing and Urban Development tried to avoid scrutiny last month when it announced the new policy outside the formal rulemaking process.

The Trump administration is cracking down on national affordable housing programs because of concern over growing risk to the government's almost $1.3 trillion portfolio of federally insured mortgages.

Agency concerned about the number of "risky" mortgages being approved; Brian Kelly, who runs The Points Guy website, can determine if a card succeeds or fails.

The Federal Housing Administration is returning to manual reviews of higher-risk loans it insures because it's finding that a growing share have lower credit scores, higher debt-to-income ratios, or both.

The Federal Housing Administration is moving forward with a long-delayed plan to reduce the term of the home warranty required for high loan-to-value mortgages on new houses.

The 2020 budget would add the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and FSOC to congressional appropriations, charge lenders for FHA upgrades and require universities to have skin in the game on student loans.

The conventional market recaptured a lot of the first-time homebuyers it lost during the financial crisis, but service members instead have increasingly stuck with loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The agency's pilot program, designed to streamline mortgage insurance applications associated with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, will now include applications for new construction and substantial rehabilitation.

Many federal agencies have been closed for more than three weeks, making it the longest shutdown in U.S. history. With no end in sight, here's how it's affecting banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders.

The American Bankers Association has called for an end to the government shutdown, saying it has prevented customers from securing loans and threatens even more damage.

A lapse in rental-assistance funding, an understaffed FHA and other effects of the government shutdown are causing real harm to families, said the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

The agency wants mortgage servicers to extend special forbearance plans to those affected by the partial government shutdown and evaluate borrowers for loss-mitigation options.

Now the third-longest shutdown in history, there are few signs the government will reopen anytime soon, and that's causing problems for lenders.

As the government shutdown enters its third week, mortgage servicers are activating the response plans they normally use during hurricanes and wildfires to assist federal workers who may have trouble paying their mortgages.

Borrowers and financial institutions may be feeling the strain from reduced operations at the FHA and IRS, which has suspended the release of certain income documentation during the budget impasse.

The current deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pam Patenaude, will step down in January.

The Federal Housing Administration's risk-sharing program with the Federal Financing Bank began as a temporary fix, but the agency is exploring how to make it more permanent.

The agency's mortgage insurance fund has big potential shortfall; Howard Wilkinson can tell U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies what he knows.

The Trump administration should consider putting much of the subsidized mortgage lending done by the federal government under the government-sponsored enterprises to improve efficiency and transparency.