The new policies were established days before the end of the Biden administration and won’t take effect until February 2026. The policies won praise from industry trade groups.

HUD gets acting secretary; FHA revises qualification requirements for single-family nonprofit program; exemption from hiring freeze excludes VA’s home loans program.

Agency refis with primary MI skyrocketed in the fourth quarter of 2024 while purchase-mortgage business declined somewhat. Lenders tightened underwriting standards on refis as volume flowed. (Includes three data tables.)

The Trump administration will likely take starkly different positions on housing and the mortgage market compared with the Biden administration. Expect changes at the GSEs, while a reduction to FHA mortgage insurance premiums looks unlikely.

More than 450 mortgage loans, many of them insured by FHA, were approved based on fabricated documents tied to the guilty plea.

HUD alleged PHH charged convenience fees in violation of FHA requirements.

VA refis in Ginnie MBS issuance more than doubled on a quarterly basis in the fourth quarter and FHA refi volume was up almost 50%. On an annual basis, Ginnie MBS issuance increased by nearly 20% in 2024.

To this point, FHA hadn’t published its method of identifying servicing defects before, except in draft form.

Trade groups and consumer advocacy groups sent comments to FHA on a draft proposal from late November introducing a permanent loss-mitigation waterfall.

Scott Turner’s nomination hearing scheduled for next week; FHA updates draft mortgagee letter on partial claim document recording and payoff statements; Fannie Mae updates Desktop Underwriter in support of FHA and VA loan limit changes; FHA adopts Uniform Residential Loan Application for Title I loan programs; the Mortgage Bankers Association provides feedback on proposed updates to Title I manufactured housing program; FHA outlines changes on multifamily loan underwriting thresholds.