The FHA is urging Congress to restore the authority of community banks to close FHA loans in their own names without having to maintain an FHA lender approval to do so. While it took a regulation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take away small banks’ FHA correspondent status, federal law requires lenders to have FHA approval before they can close an FHA-insured loan. Only Congress can make the changes necessary for non-direct endorsement lenders to return to the business of originating and closing FHA loans in their name, according to a former HUD official. Assistant Secretary for Housing and...