The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) plans to impose significant restrictions on the amount of money that sellers can contribute at closing in the near future. The FHA also will be raising its mortgage insurance premiums during the coming weeks, increasing charges for new purchases across the board. Making sense of the story: One reason for …
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It looks as if a federal plan is in the works to help underwater borrowers with mortgages not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The proposal, outlined in President Obama’s State of the Union address, would help millions of homeowners in America. Borrowers would need a minimum credit score of 580 to be eligible. …
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With interest rates at record lows, any homeowner with good enough credit and enough equity to can lower his or her mortgage payment by refinancing the loan. But that option isn’t available to millions of “underwater” homeowners — people who bought their homes at or near the top of the home-price bubble, only to see …
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Home Runs? Government announces plans to “wind down” Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Responding to financial losses and market distortions caused by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Obama administration sent Congress a plan to “wind down” the two government-owned secondary lenders over several years, “shrink the government’s footprint in housing finance, and …
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