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Good News!

FHA issued mortgagee letters today announcing major changes to FHA loan procedures. The following are highlights from the announcements:

MORTGAGEE LETTER 2009-29: Appraisal Portability

This mortgagee letter addresses the portability of appraisals for the purpose of facilitating the loan process when a borrower switches from one Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approved lender (first lender) to another (second lender) and an appraisal was ordered by and completed for the first lender. This mortgagee letter will be effective for all case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2010.

… a second appraisal may be ordered by the second lender under the following limited circumstances:

1. The first appraisal contains material deficiencies as determined by the Direct Endorsement underwriter for the second lender.
2. The appraiser performing the first appraisal is on the second lender’s exclusionary list of appraisers.
3. Failure of the first lender to provide a copy of the appraisal to the second lender in a timely manner would cause a delay in closing, posing potential harm to the borrower.

Potential harm includes events outside the control of the borrower such as loss of interest rate lock, purchase contract deadline, foreclosure proceedings, and late fees.

This is good news for FHA lenders and FHA borrowers as many purchase and refinance transactions have been delayed or quelled as a result of the lack of portability of FHA loans.

Feel free to contact me with questions.

Steve Lines
FHA Mortgage Specialist
email: slines@bestFHAlender.com
www.bestFHAlender.com
http://twitter.com/stevelines
Academy Mortgage
Mesa, Arizona