Word: fha
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...chance you have the Federal Housing Administration to thank. The Depression-era agency, once the last resort of folks who were less-than-perfect credit risks, was practically forgotten during the real estate boom - anyone with a pulse qualified for a mortgage. Now the FHA has resumed its old role by propping up the housing market, since private lenders began shunning all but the least-risky loans. The FHA doesn't lend directly but rather entices lenders do so by agreeing to cover any losses. The FHA stood behind fewer than 3% of new mortgages in 2006. In 2009, just...
That hasn't come without cost. As the FHA filled the void left by the private sector, it has assumed the risks of those loans. And now that a growing number of people have stopped paying their mortgages, the FHA has had to pay out more in claims that it forecast. The agency has just $3.6 billion on hand to cover any unexpected losses in its $685 billion portfolio. That paltry level of reserve funding, less than is mandated by the government, has left some members of Congress in a twitchy mood and some onlookers to wonder if the FHA...
...Congress does wind up extending emergency funds to the FHA - which is a full-fledged part of the Federal Government, unlike quasi-government bailout beneficiaries Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - it will be in large part because of the role the agency has played in stabilizing the housing market. Last spring, as first-time home buyers rushed to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit designed to lure them into the market, the FHA insured a full 49% of their mortgages. In October, Congress renewed a higher limit on the size of FHA loans...
That's not to say the FHA has been a particularly graceful savior. In October an internal audit showed that as the agency amassed market share, it did a poor job of screening the thousands of new lenders sending it loans. A review of 22 approved applications found that only one contained all the required supporting documentation. (See pictures of Americans in their homes...
...recent months, the FHA has suspended eight of its lenders, hired its first chief risk officer and taken other steps to beef up its controls. But some bad calls - whether from a lack of resources (it has long begged Congress to fund computer upgrades) or a lack of judgment - will haunt the agency for years. Loans it backed in 2006 and 2007 are souring at a particularly high rate because of seller-financed down payments; when a home buyer isn't the one ponying up equity, there is more than twice as much chance that the loan will...