The pause was ultimately rescinded following court injunctions. In the meantime, participants in government-insured mortgage programs faced uncertainty.

VA is considering a rule that would require lenders to use a new application program interface to report loan information and remit funding fees to the agency. It also plans to rewrite rules regarding when VA would assert a defense for a partial or total loss of a guarantee.

The changes were set to take effect Feb. 5. Instead, HUD instituted a 90-day delay to review the final rule developed by the Biden administration.

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.

Among the changes, FHA has reduced the required rental income history to 12 months from two years.

VA origination fees will stay at elevated levels through mid-2034 rather than coming down near the end of 2031. The extension was prompted by a bill that passed Congress with broad bipartisan support.

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

The SFLS program is intended to yield a recovery to the MMIF that meets or exceeds the recovery obtained from a foreclosure-based claim.

The Community Home Lenders of America warned that Congress shouldn’t use federal housing programs to pay for legislation.

The pilot seeks to demonstrate how HUD could reduce the costs associated with delivering and retaining original partial claim documents.