Centering GSE 2020 Oregon Loan Acquisitions on Minority Borrowers and Co-Borrowers.

In my most recent post this week I included a link to a new Excel workbook I created that included loan level detail for 163,000 GSE (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] loan acquisitions in Oregon in 2020.

I have now added 11 new worksheets to the GSE Excel file I created earlier HERE . The file is slightly larger at 135 MB, but the link and file name remain the same.

These worksheets focus exclusively on minority loans acquired by the GSE‘s in Oregon in 2020.

First, there is a two page summary of loans acquired for borrower or co-borrowers in four minority racial categories and for Hispanic borrowers or co-borrowers. That PDF file is HERE and the summary section is pasted below.

Then there are five pivot tables and five related data worksheets for Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, and Native Hawaiian Islander or other Pacific Islander borrower or co-borrowers.

Share of  Oregon GSE Loans: Four Minority Racial Categories and Hispanics 

The data shows that 5.9%/13,358 of all 163,089 loan acquisitions were for borrower or co-borrowers in 4 racial minority categories and 8.2%%/9,558 were for Hispanic borrower or co-borrowers.

For (43,640) home purchase loans those shares were 9.4%/4,088 (four minority racial categories) and 7.6%./3,324 (Hispanics).

And for (18,884) first time homebuyer loans those shares were 11.3%/2,136  (four minority racial categories)  and 9.9%/1,869 (Hispanics).

Many GSE Minority Loans Acquired Were FHA Insured Loans

84% of all loans reported by the GSE‘s for four minority racial categories were FHA insured loans. FHA insured loans were 80% of all Hispanic loans acquired by the GSE’s.

That FHA share drops to about 48% for home purchase loans for the four minority racial categories and 44% for Hispanic home purchase loans. 

And, perhaps because of rules that may have restricted how government guaranteed loans can be counted toward GSE goals, the percentage of FHA insured loans for first time homebuyer loans acquired for the four minority racial categories, and for Hispanics, was reported as ZERO.

Note that the GSE FHA loan counts are NOT all 2020 Oregon FHA loans made to borrowers and Co-borrowers in the four racial categories or to Hispanics, just those loans that were FHA insured and then acquired by GSE’s.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

In Oregon Counties, With or Without Compensating Factors, What Income Is Required to Purchase a Home with A FHA Loan?

I have constructed a new Excel estimator HERE and embedded below that shows the income required to qualify for an FHA loan, with and without compensating factors. (My prior post HERE explains more about compensating factors and FHA loans).

Included in the workbook is a worksheet that includes an inserted MS Word document with details about each of the compensating factors and a web link to access the entire HUD 4000.1 handbook in PDF format; the compensating factors section begins on PDF page 351. [Users likely will need MS Word or Word reader to view this worksheet].

The estimator starts with user inputs including

• The county in which the home is located
• The household size
• The purchase price
• The loan interest rate
• The down payment percentage
• The amount of reoccurring non-housing debt.
• Monthly Property taxes, insurance and homeowners association fees (as a percentage of the purchase price).

The estimator returns, for four different scenarios:

• The FHA mortgage limit for the county in which the applicant is purchasing the home (with an error message if the purchase price less down payment exceeds this limit).
• The monthly and upfront FHA insurance costs.
• The total mortgage amount with the annual FHA up front premium added.
• The monthly principal and interest,
• The tax and insurance amount, 
• The PITI amount,
• The monthly reoccurring debt amount,
• The total monthly debt amount,
• The income required to qualify for an FHA loan with or without compensating factors.
• The ratio of the income required compared to the household sized adjusted HUD median family income for the county in which the applicant is purchasing the home.
• The dollar difference between the income required for a FHA loan with NO compensating factors and the income required for each of the three compensating factor scenarios.
• The percentage difference between the income required for a FHA loan with NO compensating factors and the income required for each of the three compensating factor scenarios.
• NOTES: 1. You likely will need to scroll right to see all columns in the web browser; downloading the file may provide you with a better view of all columns. 2. Result cells are password protected to avoid inadvertent entries; input cells are not locked.

Default settings

The default settings are for Multnomah county (Portland metro area) with a purchase price of $500,000, a 4 person household, a 3.5% down payment, a 3% interest rate, property taxes, insurance, and HOA at 1.5% of the purchase price ($625), and recurring non housing debt of $300 a month. All of these defaults can be changed by the user. 

Default results:

1. Without compensating factors the default applicant would need to have an income of $121% of the Portland metro household size adjusted median family income to qualify. That's $117,600.
2. Scenario 2 would allow a family at 102% of the household sized adjusted Portland metro HUD median family income qualify for an FHA loan. That's $98.500--- 16%/$19,100 below the income required for a applicant who can't use any of the available compensating factors. 
3. Scenarios 3 and 4 would allow a family at 94% of the household sized adjusted Portland metro HUD median family income qualify for an FHA loan. That's $91.100--- 23%/$26,500 below the income required for a applicant who can't use any of the available compensating factors. 

Caveats:

1. The compensating factors used are shown in the HUD handbook as manual factors. Automated underwriting systems likely use these and other factors in making the underwriting decision recommendation. 
2. These are permissible compensating factors. Lenders are free to NOT use these factors and to be more conservative in their underwriting decisions. 
3. IF the FHA loan is for the Oregon state bond program there are additional income and property purchase limits that may change these results. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog

Portland Example: First Time Homebuyer Income Required to Qualify for a FHA Oregon Bond Loan Could Be Reduced by Up to 22% Using FHA Compensating Factors.

There are a wide variety of measures that are used to determine homeownership affordability. Those measures can include down payment assumptions, loan rate assumptions, home price assumptions, and allowable debt to income ratio assumptions. 

However I don't recall seeing any projections of the income required to purchase a home that use compensating factors as part of the debt to income analysis. Compensating factors allow applicants to qualify for larger loans than they would qualify for using standard housing debt and total debt to income ratios of 31% for housing expenses and 43% for all reoccurring expenses.

I'm most familiar with FHA lending so my examples will focus on FHA compensating factors. but  I'm sure that other loan programs also have their versions of compensating factors. 

Pre COVID 2019 HMDA Data Shows That the MAJORITY of Oregon FHA Home Purchase Borrowers Had Debt to Income Ratios of 44% or Higher.

In Oregon my review of 2019 HMDA data shows that 52% of FHA home purchase first lien loans originated had debt to income ratios of 44% or higher. (4,404 FHA home purchase first lien loans where DTI was reported at 44% or higher/7,922 total FHA first lien home purchase loans where DTI was known=52%). 

I also looked at Oregon 2019 HMDA data for FHA first lien home purchase loan originations to Hispanic, Black, and Asian borrowers. Their share of FHA first lien home purchase loans originated where DTI was 44% or higher was 66%, 67%, and 67% respectively.

[The link HERE will download the 2019 HMDA Oregon data for your review and further analysis]. 

FHA Compensating Factor Guidance

FHA's Single Family Policy Handbook 4000.1 includes a matrix of manual underwriting compensating factors that can be used to increase the percentage of income that can be used to qualify for an FHA loan.

The table pasted below (from handbook printed page 335) lists those factors that can be used to increase the amount of income used to qualify an applicant for an FHA loan:

A Portland  First Time Homebuyer Metro Example. 

I took the information from that table and applied it to an example I created for the Portland metro area for first time homebuyers. The PDF table I created is HERE and embedded below.

For the Portland metro area I created four scenarios shown in the PDF; a description of the compensating factors required for each scenario at at the top of each column:  

1. All scenarios assume a credit rating of 580 or more. This is, by itself, a compensating factor.
2. All use the current OHCS non targeted area Portland metro maximum purchase price of $453,000, the 2.25% current "cash advantage" interest rate for the Oregon Bond program, and a 3.5%/$15,855 down payment. All scenarios are fixed rate 30 year loans. Note that these terms are generally available only to first time home buyers. There are some exceptions for veterans and also for purchasers of property in targeted areas.  
3. The one time 1.75%/$7,650 FHA upfront mortgage insurance premium is included in the amount financed and the monthly MIP expense is .85%/$310.
4. Monthly property taxes and insurance and homeowners association expenses are estimated at 1.3%  of the purchase price divided by 12. ($491 per month).
5. Total monthly housing expense is $2,387.
6. Monthly non-housing reoccurring debt is assumed at $300 per month except for the 4th scenario where it is zero.
7. None of the scenarios factor in any boost for energy efficient homes, which could add 2% to the front and back ratios. My read is that these factors may only be available for scenarios 1 and 2.

Observations:

1. Using standard FHA underwriting ratios of 31%/43% in the first scenario the applicant would need $96,800 in annual income.
2. Scenario 2 requires only one compensating factor out of three possibilities and would decrease required income to $81,200 and increase allowable underwriting ratios to 37%/47%.
3. In scenario 3 there is an $75,100 income requirement but the applicant must meet at least two of these three compensating factors. The $75,100 income requirement is 22%/$21,700 less than in the first standard scenario. The underwriting ratios for this scenario are further increased to 40%/50%.
4. In scenario 4 (with only ONE required factor--no monthly recurring debt) the annual income required is also $75,100. using underwriting ratios of 40%/40%.
5. Using HUD's 4 person MFI for the Portland metro area of $96,900, 

Scenario 1 requires an income of $96,800---100% of MFI, 
Scenario 2 requires an income of $81,200--84% of HUD MFI, and 
Scenarios 3 and 4 require an income of $75,100--78% of HUD MFI.

NOTE: Use of a higher down payment would reduce monthly housing costs and reduce the income required to qualify in all scenarios, but poses a challenge for first time home buyers since it would also increase the cash required to close the loan.

Caveats:

1. The guidance cited above applies to manual loan underwriting. I do not know the extent to which these specific factors are modified or incorporated in the automated underwriting systems.  However given the large share of loans with DTI of 44% and higher it seems highly like that FHA approved automated credit scoring systems DO use credit scores and other factors in issuing loan approval decisions for loans with DTI at 44% and above. 
2. Lenders are free to adopt more restrictive standards than found in the handbook.  
3. I used the more restrictive income income limit of the two limits in each scenario rounded up to the next higher $100. 
4. The documentation required for each compensating factor can be found starting on PDF page 351 of the 40001.1 handbook.  
5. I used the latest version of the handbook, which is effective in August; I don't see any substantive changes in the compensating factors from those used in the current Handbook.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Washington State Has Their Draft Pilot Homeowner Assistance Plan Out for Public Comment.

Washington state has their 11 page draft pilot plan to spend 10% ($17.315M) of their Homeowner Assistance Fund allocation out for public comment through June 7th. 

I have downloaded their draft HERE; their webpage for HAF is HERE. 

My observations:

1. Only 10% of total HAF allocation is included in plan. Draft indicates that Treasury requires a plan OR a date for submission for a plan by June 30th. This draft clearly is intended to be a plan that meets the Treasury deadline by being a plan with a date ("in the next few months") for submission of a (FULL) plan.  
2. No geographic targeting or set aside; appears to be  first come, first served. 
3. No data provided on location or concentration of seriously delinquent loans or presumptively socially disadvantaged homeowners. 
4. Income limits at 100%, NO assistance for 100% to 150% median income homeowners (the Treasury Plan limit available after 60% of funds are spent at or below 100%).
5. No actual income limits by county and household size are included. 
6. Max assistance per homeowner is $25,000 unless you’re in a socially disadvantaged group and then it could increase by 50% /$12,500. [Page 7-8].
7. Several existing programs will be funded by HAF. 
8. Admin and IT cost is about 10%.
9. Actual HAF amount available for direct benefit to home owners appears to be about 66% ($11.485M) of the total of $17.315 M. [Page 10 and table below].

Table here from page 10 shows planned fund expenditures: 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Oregon April 2021 Update: FHA Loan Servicer Report Shows 5,547 Seriously Delinquent Loans, A Rate of 8.8%.

 I have compiled the latest end of April 2021 FHA servicing data for Oregon into a workbook with three worksheets HERE and embedded below. 

The second worksheet combines three HUD Neighborhood Watch sub reports into one worksheet that contains a servicing summary, loss mitigation, and loss mitigation incentive claims data. Filters are in place by default so users may select or sort on individual columns to find , for example, the servicer with the largest number of serious delinquencies, the highest serious delinquent rate, etc. 

The FIRST worksheet is a PIVOT table of the data worksheet. The default view in the pivot table are these statewide counts:

• All active loans (63,302)
• 90 day delinquencies (5,547) [5,547/63,302=8.8% serious delinquency rate)
• Foreclosure actions (58)
• Loss mitigation incentive claims paid (2,224)
• Forbearance claims paid (3)

To see information on individual servicers, users can pull down the servicer name in the field at the top of the pivot table or drag it into the Pivot table to see all servicers.

The third worksheet is a vertical listing of all of the data fields in the first worksheet and the HUD Neighborhood Watch sub report from which the data field is associated. 

Note: I had previously downloaded the Oregon March 31st servicing data; the April 30 serious delinquency rate of 8.8% is down from the March rate of 9.1%.

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March 2021: Oregon FHA Serious Delinquent Loan Data by County Includes Average Mortgage Equity/Principal Reduction.

In prior posts I constructed a national map of census tracts with 11 or more FHA seriously delinquent loans and then state tables that estimated statewide FHA seriously delinquent loans in all census tracts with 1 or more serious delinquencies. 

In this post I have constructed an Oregon county focused 2 page PDF landscaped formatted table HERE and embedded below. 

The table and this post again ONLY focuses on census tracts that have 11 or more seriously delinquent FHA loans and then aggregates that data to the county wide level in Oregon. This means that any Oregon county without any census tracts with 11 or more seriously delinquent loans will NOT appear in this analysis. 

The first page of the PDF focuses on seriously delinquent loans, the count of census tracts with those loans, their original mortgage amounts, their remaining debt, and their mortgage equity (the difference between the original mortgage and the unpaid current mortgage, AKA "principal reduction").  Mortgage equity however does NOT factor in any increase in home values. 

Unlike the last recession home values have generally been increasing in Oregon. This increase in value AND mortgage equity/principal reduction shown in the table provides a financial cushion that may prove to be useful in avoiding foreclosure and also open options for refinancing and or mortgage modification. 

The second page of the PDF file adds ALL outstanding FHA loans and compares the mortgage equity/principal reduction in all FHA loans to the mortgage equity/principal reduction in the seriously delinquent loans. 

Some observations:

1. There were 222 census tracts with 11 or more serious delinquencies and 137 census tracts (62%) were outside of the 3 county Portland metro area. 
2. The 2,310 serious delinquencies outside the 3 country Portland metro area were also 62% of the statewide total of 3,741.
3. There were 64,087 total FHA loans in force.  41,548 (65%) of the statewide total FHA loans in force were outside of the Portland metro. 
4. The statewide serious delinquency rate is 5.8%;  the 3 county Portland metro rate was higher at 6.3%. 
5. Statewide, serious delinquent mortgage equity was $75.5 million, averaging $19,134 per loan. The $23,102 average seriously delinquent mortgage equity was higher in the 3 county Portland metro area than the $16,676 average seriously delinquent mortgage equity outside the 3 county Portland metro area.
6. The statewide average mortgage equity in seriously delinquent loans ($19,134) is slightly higher than the average mortgage equity for ALL outstanding FHA loans ($19,048).  There are 10 counties where the reverse is true, but the variance in most of these counties (except Benton and Tillamook) is relatively slight. 

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New Census Tract Map is First With March Nationwide FHA Serious Delinquency Loan Data : 762,000 Loans; Outstanding Loan Balance=$126+ BILLION.

I recently downloaded FHA serious delinquency (90+ days) single family loan data from the end of March. 

My analysis found 65,177 US census tracts with 1 or more serious delinquencies, and of those there were 28,009 census tracts with 11 or more serious delinquencies. 

Because the values for census tracts with 10 or less delinquencies were suppressed for privacy reasons, I constructed a nationwide map of just those 28,009 census tracts with 11 or more serious FHA delinquencies. 

Nationally those 28,009 census tracts had a total of 762,260 seriously delinquent FHA loans; the outstanding loan balance for those loans was more than $126 BILLION. 

In Oregon the 222 census tracts with 11 or more serious delinquencies had a total of 3,741 serious delinquencies and the outstanding loan balance was more than $790 Million. 

Note that these counts and loan balances do NOT include seriously delinquent loans in census tracts with 1-10 serious delinquencies. There are more than 37,000 of those census tracts nationally and 523 in Oregon alone.  

The map of census tracts with 11 or more serious delinquencies is HERE and embedded below. (It may take a few seconds to fully load so be patient). 

The value shown in each census tract (with 11 or more serious delinquencies) is the number of serious delinquencies as of March 31, 2021. 

IF you click on an individual census tract a menu with additional information appears. It includes information on series delinquency counts from early quarterly periods and for the seriously delinquent loans information on the original FHA loan amounts and the remaining FHA loan balance for each quarterly period.

Heads Up:

Look for a future post with tables of state information on counts of census tracts with FHA single family serious delinquencies and estimated counts of FHA total serious delinquencies with the outstanding mortgage balance of those delinquencies. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Oregon 2019 HMDA Loans Data Includes Worksheet and Pivot Table of Black Home Loans.

On June 24th the FFIEC made 2019 HMDA home loan data available for download HERE.  

Unlike prior year HMDA data products from the CFPB, the FFIEC did NOT make it easy to extract data; many of the data fields use codes instead of names. Their browser tool also only allows the selection of two variables at a time for downloads. 

Nonetheless the 2019 HMDA data is useful and has been expanded to include 98 data fields. (These fields are listed in the Excel workbook I created; see below). Also, the 2019 HMDA data was posted on a much more timely basis than I recall when prior year uploads typically happened in September or October of the following year. 

Because the data is valuable and timely I took the time to download the HMDA loan registry (LAR) data for Oregon. I also added  4 columns with NAMES to substitute for codes: Metro names, county names, a name for the outcome of the loan application (Loan originated, denied etc) and a name for loan purpose. Note that the data that I downloaded does not include lender names; that would require downloading and matching loan data with lender data. 

The LARGE Excel workbook (149 MB's I created is HERE.
It contains these worksheets:

1. All data on 2,469 Black loan applications.
2. A pivot table of Black loan applications whose default view is the number of loan applications by county and their disposition. It also includes a filter that can focus on loan purpose (Purchase, refinance ETC) and loan type (FHA, conventional ETC)
3. All data on 264,983 loan applications.
4. A pivot table of all loan applications. The default view is of the count of loan applications and their disposition broken out by race. It also includes a filter that can focus on loan purpose (Purchase, refinance ETC) and loan type (FHA, conventional ETC)
5. A lookup table that includes MSA, county, loan purpose, and disposition values
6. An error table that includes 982 import errors (3.7 errors per 1,000 loans)
7. A table that lists all the 98 fields in the HMDA data (plus the 4 field names that I added.)

Example: Black Loans in 3 County Portland Metro Area. 
Below is a picture of a data table I created within the Black loan pivot table that shows the disposition of 1,837 Black loan applications from three Portland metro counties: 
990 loans were originated, 
67 were purchased (usually by Fannie and Freddie) and 
the remainder [780] did not result in loans. 

Notes: 

• While I included a separate worksheet for Black loan applications it's simple to use a filter within the all loan application worksheet to extract data for other racial and ethnic groups. Look for the "derived ethnicity" and/or the "derived race" columns. The Pivot table for all loan applications will also allow this focus.
• My prior HMDA related posts can be viewed HERE. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Oregon HUD/FHA MF FY 2013 Lending Includes $35 Million NC Project in the Pearl, and $56 Million Hillsboro Refi.

Excel table HERE and embedded below has FY 2013 FHA MF endorsed loans in Oregon.  Total of 1,232 units/ $138 million since October 1st.

Only 1 new construction loan, The Parker in the Portland Pearl district, 177 units/$35.6 million. (Readers may recall that FHA also recently insured another new construction Pearl area project, Freedom Center Apartments).

One notable refinance was of Standard Dairy in SE Portland. Suburban refinance loans closed included projects in Beaverton, Hillsboro, and West Linn.  Hillsboro project was $56 million, 496 unit The Commons at Verandas in Tanasbourne.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Updated: FHA Near Broke?

Update: 
HUD has published short paper on FHA role in SF Market HERE.  Also doing related webcast with Urban Institute starting 7 AM PST Thursday HERE.
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BloombergBusinessweek story HERE says that FHA annual actuarial report due next week may lead way to infusion of Treasury cash into FHA, for first time in history. 

I would stay tuned for more details next week; past annual actuarial reports can be found on the HUD website HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

FHA Multifamily Insured LIHTC Pilot Program for Existing Properties Expands Nationwide.

HUD letter is HERE. Prior HUD Notice explaining the pilot is HERE. From that Notice:

The first phase of the Pilot will permit applications for permanent financing processed under Section 223(f) for properties that are recently constructed and occupied, for preservation and moderate rehabilitation of properties with Section 8 rental assistance or for older, stabilized tax credit properties through the syndication of new credits.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Micro Apartments in Portland.

Christian Science Monitor story HERE has SF and NYC examples. 

A FHA insured multifamily 150 unit example of a similar Portland project, Freedom Center Apartments, is in initial lease up and should be opening next month in the Pearl district in NW Portland.  Website HERE shows size of studio apartments as low as 267 sq. ft.

I took pic about a month ago of construction in progress:

Freedom Center Apts.

 Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Update: Baltimore Regional AI Demonstration Notice Coming Tomorrow, Using FHA Multfamily Financing Incentives as Carrot.

Update: 
Have added link to Court Settlement item in NLIHC Memo to Members that provides more context for regional AI demonstration
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Notice will be in Federal Register on Wednesday, I have posted advance notice HERE. 

Notice indicates FHA financing incentives will be offered for projects that either project base vouchers or offer below market rents for 2 or more bedroom non elderly units. Projects participating in the demonstration will also be required to accept voucher holders (appears similar to the requirement for LIHTC projects, but all units in these projects may not have rents affordable to voucher holders).

Eligible projects will also be limited to "areas of opportunity" that are part of a prior court settlement. NLIHC Memo to Members court settlement update is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Oregon Cities Who May Lose Zero Down RDA Home Loan Option Had $250 Million in FHA Loans in CY 2011.

Oregonian story HERE lists a number of Oregon cities who may lose the option for zero down RDA loans because they are no longer classified as "rural".

Story says that FHA loans are not "as active" in these areas.  I did some digging and published HERE and embedded below is a Excel table that shows that 1,338 residents in these cities received a total of $250 million in FHA insured loans.

While the Oregonian story did not break out loan totals in these cities, the statewide RD total for these loans for "last year" is given as $424 million.  (RD web page HERE and annual report HERE shows a lower $354 million FISCAL year STATEWIDE total, with total loans of 2,263).

50/50 Split of RD/FHA Loans in CY 2011 in These Communities?

If CY 2011 RD loans were 20% higher than FY 2011, this would mean total RD loans of about 2,715. If half of those loans (1,357) were in the communities who may lose access to zero down RD home loan financing, the split between FHA and RD loans for CY 2011 would have been 50/50 in those communities. The data suggests to me that lenders using FHA loan products were "active" in these communities, especially given the absence of a FHA zero down loan product to offer. (Note that FHA counts do not include HECM loans).

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

FHA Single Family Loan Volume in Oregon, First Half of CY 2012: $1.8 Billion, 7,600 Loans.

Excel file I created is HERE and embedded below shows FHA SF loan volume for CY 2012 through June, broken out by county and loan type. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Study: Minority Borrowers/Communities Get Too Many FHA and VA Loans.

Story about study in seven cities (not including Portland or Seattle) is HERE; study is HERE.

Tempting to put this into "no good deed goes unpunished" bin; reality is that government loans have long been a primary source of mortgage financing for African American and Hispanics (especially first time buyers), while conventional and GSE loans to African Americans and Hispanics have lagged. 

Only period when this was not true was during subprime days (remember those were conventional loans) and that didn't work out so well.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

GAO: Some FHA Borrowers Had Tax Debt and Got First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.

GAO report page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Audio of Last Weeks FHA Multifamily House Hearing.

Prior post with links to written testimony is HERE; you can download new large (84 MB) MP3 audio HERE from this two hour hearing.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

US House Hearing Today on FHA Multifamily Programs.

Sub Committee of House Financial Services Committee website for hearing is HERE. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

HUD/FHA May be Moving to Ease Some Condo Rules.

Not much detail or sourcing, but Kenneth Harney column is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.