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FHA Modernization Act of 2007
An original bill to modernize and update the National Housing Act and enable the Federal Housing Administration to more effectively reach underserved borrowers, and for other purposes.
12/14/2007--Passed Senate amended. FHA Modernization Act of 2007 - Title I: Building American Homeownership - Building American Homeownership Act of 2007 -
(Sec. 102) Amends the National Housing Act to:
(1) modify requirements for the maximum principal loan obliga more...
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This bill has 2 amendments. See All Amendments
Bill Status
| Introduced |  | Voted on by Senate |  | Voted on by House | | Considered By President | | Bill Becomes Law |
| November 13, 2007 | December 14, 2007 |
In the News
March 25, 2008 McCain Promises A Series Of ‘Meetings’ To Solve Housing Crisis
[S. 2338, 12/14/07] – McCain failed to sign on to Truth in Lending Act. Less than four months ago, McCain failed to sign on to this bipartisan initiative ...
March 25, 2008 A Tale Told By McCain, Full Of Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing
[S. 2338, 12/14/07] McCain failed to sign on to the Predatory Lending Consumer Protection Act. In 2003, McCain didn’t add his name to this legislation, ...
March 01, 2008 Sununu to host mortgage workshops
In addition to hosting the workshops, Sununu has supported the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Modernization Act (S. 2338), which the US Senate passed ...
Blog Coverage
May 07, 2008 FHA Legislation Update
S. 2338 was introduced by Dodd in December - it also has FHA modernization and risk based MIP in the fringes... but it is not moving out of Committee either. The "Housing Bill" that the President said today he would veto - is about ...
Source: Eleanor's RTP Blog
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April 03, 2008 Das Direktionsrecht des Arbeitgebers
Aufl., Nr. 462, S. 2338 f.). Zu diesem Punkt gehört natürlich auch der Fall der Lehrerin mit dem islamischen Kopftuch, der in der Vergangenheit durch die Pressen ging. Hier stöÃt jedoch das Weisungsrecht des Arbeitgebers an ein ...
Source: News der Rechtsanwälte Kramer & Partner
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April 01, 2008 US Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to my message regarding ...
You may be interested to know that conference negotiations to resolve the differences between the House-passed version of the FHA reform bill (HR 1852) and the Senate-passed version (S. 2338) are ongoing. ...
Source: Moving to Los Angeles
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Displaying 1-30 of 48 total comments.
anyone have a translation for this?
Hi Tiffany,
I posted on the bill. The problem with FHA financing as it stands now makes it an obsolete choice for a source of funding a loan for properties in high end areas like California where the median price of a home exceeds the allowable max loan amount offered by FHA.
With the rise in inflation and housing prices, it is important that FHA financing keep up with the private sector. Not everyone in America has 20% to put down on a house. This bill will enable more people to realize the American dream and help the economy!
Alex Stenback has heard from "a very reliable sourse" that much of this bill (but an even higher loan limit) will be included in the economic stimulus package:
"Sources in the House, the Senate, and the White House are all indicating today that a tentative consensus has been reached that the economic stimulus bill that Congress will send to the President will include much of the FHA Reform Legislation including raising the FHA loan limit max to match the FHA conforming limit AND a one year raise of the conforming limit to $625,000 with the possibility of an additional one year extension at expiration. All sources also indicate Congress will deliver the bill to the President before their break in mid-February and that it should be signed by the end of February. Obviously this is not "done" but all of the sources I am using are very close to the action. This would mean that we could see at least the loan limit portions of the legislation we are hoping for within the next 6 weeks."
http://www.behindthemortgage.com/behind_the_mortgage/2008/01/news-on-conform.html
And below are some reactions to the "news":
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/01/were-all-jumbo-subprime-now.html
http://www.chrishayes.org/blog/2008/jan/24/worst-stimulus-ever/
Moderated Comment
good info donnyshaw, it looks like you have a good source. you appear to be right on the money. I've heard their is a good chance that tues & thursday will be big days for this to move into the house committee and hopefully on to the presidents desk. hopefully we can have this passed by the end of the month. I might be to overly confident, but i am keep my fingers crossed. it will certainly be helpful to me and my family on this bills passing. thx's for you input.
Moderated Comment
Thanks Donny. Good information!
s.2338 will allow seniors to be able to secure reverse mortgages with the increase of the cap on the amount of money that can be borrowed. I believe the present amount is $417,000. there are many homeowners that need the bill to pass with these new provisions. keep pushing your senate and congress reps. thxs, mike
This reform is key in the recovery of the real estate market here in Florida. Our current loan limit in central Florida is 262K, this just isnn't enough to provide help to families who are in adjustable rate loans or needing to do debt consolidation. With the current "declining market area" comments in the DU and LP systems reducing borrowers max loan to 85% we need FHA more than ever for these borrowers with good credit that need a higher LTV. I have several loans "on hold" waiting for this bill passage. Florida recently passed legislation to double our homestead exemption, this coupled with FHA lower rates will bring a lot of homeowners off the edge of falling behind on their mortgages. Now if we can just do something about the HOI then maybe we can start seeing a postive turn in the market.
Can anyone confirm that the S.2338 that was passed did not contain the reverse mortgage help that was needed by increasing the fha loan limits? I was told that this item is covered in the National Housing Act under section 255(g)12usc1715z20(g). Also, that this portion of the bill s.2338 was set aside until sometime in april 2008. I understand that this measure was controlled by the fha/hud and that we should contact our local representatives to get clearification and insist that this be corrected ASAP. the oversight was not on purpose but was part of the h.r. 1852 bill that is not going to be looked at until april, but was thought to be part of S.2338, but was not. pls act asap
is there any time frame when this will be in effect?
Is Congress looking to help the poor or are they primarily looking to help the highter income group (like the financial institutions)? Seniors, in particular, need more stimulus. They are on a fixed income, don't easily get hired, have little or no savings, can't refinance a normal loan due to banking requirements. Who's looking out for them? The stimulus package raised the limit for higher priced homes for people who can afford highter priced homes. It excluded S.2338, specifically lifting the reversed mortgage cap. Someone prior to this message said it was not on purpose. I wonder. I've written to several Senators, my Representative, Speaker of the House, the Majority Leader of the House pleading with them that if this bill does not pass soon, we seniors who sacrificed to obtain the equity we have will lose it all when we lose our homes because the only help we can qualify for to keep oru home is to get our reversed mortgage. As it stands, we would have to put up out of pocket money (if our mortgage balance and the cost of the loan are greater than the 65% of the current cap). Most of us, on fixed income, cannot come up with the two, three or five thousand dollars we fall short on. Even though there is plenty of equity in the home to cover that, FHA/HUD won't look or consider it because they cannot see beyond the current cap rate. The Senate & House have sat on this issue for a long time, will it pass during this congress? Or, is it going to be reviewed again in April, 2008, sent back and forth, stalled all over again? Tom Coburn has much to do with this. I understand that homes in his state are all right with the current FHA/HUD caps because most of the homes in that state don't go that high in value. But what about states like California, New York, Nevada, etc? Why aren't the Senators/Representatives for these states (California, Nevada, New York, Arizona, etc.) stepping up to the plate? When will we have positive action? By: Lorenza
It's been two months since this went to the joint senate/house committee for reconciliation. Like michae1 I need this legislation to get to the president. It's as important to seniors as the stimulus bill and potentially be even better for the economy.
Has the House & Senate reconciled yet? The reversed mortgage cap has not yet been lifted to 417,000. Hope it happens before these seniors die. It's been a year since H.R. 1852 was voted on. It took 9 months for the Senate to do something. Since December it has been up for review. When will action be taken.
As a Certified Notary Signing Agent who specializes in closing Reverse Mortgages, I firmly believe that the cap increased to $417,000.00 is extremely important. Many of the homes were appraised much higher than the present cap and it hurts the homeowner. When is this bill going to get passed? I'm sure many are waiting on it.
Anonymous
It has passed and the new amounts are out. I have them for california but not the other states.
Are you saying that the Reverse Mortgage Stimilus Package Bill has passed for the state of California but not for other states? If so, when did it pass?
Where can we get the new amounts for the other states?
California is the first. I do not believe that other states are included as of yet but I could be wrong. Things are happening very quickly now.
John143 posted on 3-6-08 that "it has passed and the new amounts are out. I have them for California but not the other states". Does this mean the reverse mortgage stimilus package to increase the lending limit has passed for the state of California? If so, since I live in California, can I take advantage of this new bill now?
by Anonymous.
California County Limits
Obs county_ med_price FHA_1unit
185 Alameda 995000 729750 MAX
186 Alpine 438000 547500
187 Amador 355000 443750
188 Butte 320000 400000
189 Calaveras 370000 462500
190 Colusa 318000 397500
191 Contra Costa 995000 729750 MAX
192 Del Norte 249000 311250
193 El Dorado 464000 580000
194 Fresno 305000 381250
195 Glenn 230000 287500
196 Humboldt 315000 393750
197 Imperial 260000 325000
198 Inyo 350000 437500
199 Kern 295000 368750
200 Kings 260000 325000
201 Lake 321000 401250
202 Lassen 200000 271050
203 Los Angeles 710000 729750 MAX
204 Madera 340000 425000
205 Marin 995000 729750 MAX
206 Mariposa 330000 412500
207 Mendocino 410000 512500
208 Merced 378000 472500
209 Modoc 125000 271050
210 Mono 370000 462500
211 Monterey 599000 729750 MAX
212 Napa 615000 729750 MAX
213 Nevada 450000 562500
214 Orange 710000 729750 MAX
215 Placer 464000 580000
216 Plumas 328000 410000
217 Riverside 400000 500000
218 Sacramento 464000 580000
219 San Benito 790000 729750 MAX
220 San Bernardino 400000 500000
221 San Diego 558000 697500
222 San Francisco 995000 729750 MAX
223 San Joaquin 391000 488750
224 San Luis Obispo 550000 687500
225 San Mateo 995000 729750 MAX
226 Santa Barbara 615000 729750 MAX
227 Santa Clara 790000 729750 MAX
228 Santa Cruz 719000 729750 MAX
229 Shasta 339000 423750
230 Sierra 228000 285000
231 Siskiyou 235000 293750
232 Solano 446000 557500
233 Sonoma 530000 662500
234 Stanislaus 339000 423750
235 Sutter 340000 425000
236 Tehama 250000 312500
237 Trinity 200000 271050
238 Tulare 260000 325000
239 Tuolumne 350000 437500
240 Ventura 599000 729750 MAX
241 Yolo 464000 580000
242 Yuba 340000 425000
My undrstanding is, part of the passage was to include reverse mortgages under FHA guidlines. Read the last paragraph for specifics:
“The passage of this bill is a major step towards making FHA relevant again in today’s unstable mortgage market where low and moderate income borrowers have been squeezed into unaffordable loan products with no safe options for refinancing, or for entering the housing market as first time, particularly in high cost areas of the country,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. “I applaud Chairman Frank for passing this bill out of committee and I call on the Senate to work quickly to modernize FHA and help strengthen the housing market and the economy, as soon as possible.
Specifically, the bill modernizes the FHA and brings it into the realities of the housing market in the 21st century by:
Increasing loan limits in high cost areas of the country like California, New York, and Massachusetts, where FHA has been driven from the market, forcing many borrowers to turn to high-cost financing and other non-traditional loan products.
· Authorizing zero down and lower down payment FHA loans for homebuyers who could not otherwise make the down payment required under current FHA rules, to make FHA more consistent with other private sector loan products.
· Directing FHA to underwrite to borrowers with higher credit risk than FHA currently serves that are still creditworthy to take out a mortgage loan, but are otherwise now being driven into the subprime loan market, with much higher mortgage rates.
· Permanently eliminating the current statutory volume cap on FHA reverse mortgage loans to permit this program to meet the growing needs of home equity rich, cash poor seniors citizens that need help paying bills or needed home costs, while capping the fees that loan originators can charge senior citizens
I am trying to find specifics on the reverse mortgage issue. I will post more when I have confirmed whether it was included or not.
It does NOT appear to include reverse mortgage:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm
Here is the current amounts on "regular" FHA:
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm
Is there a separate ammendment for the reverse mortgage - I was under the impression that the reverse was part of the original bill and that is what I really need so I can keep my home.
It appears that they are approving "parts" of the overall bill. The only thing I can suggest is to keep checking to see if they approve the increase in the reverse mortgage. Good luck to you.
Thank you, I will continue to check!
I'm trying to get a reverse mortgage for my father and I've run into a new wrinkle. My dads house does not meet FHA building standards (most older homes owned by the elderly don't) and the bank underwriters are keying in on every nuance. I'm sure their running scared because of the sub prime mess. We need an exemption that says these homes only have to be in good repair.
Joel, here is a reply I received for you:
Hi John,
I would be interested in finding out specifically why it doesn't meet building standards. If it is a manufactured home pre 1976, there is nothing anyone can do, but if it is an SFR or a manufactured on perm foundation and in need of repair, we have funded several reverse mortgages where we do an escrow holdback for repairs to be made to bring the house up to par.
So to answer your question, I believe I can help but need more details.
Regards,
Joe Wiggins
President
Cal State Home Loans
951.341.8100
951.341.8110 fax
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