A clause in a New York home-purchase contract excluding government-backed financing from seller consideration is raising potential disparate impact concerns. A residential-lending manager in Sarasota, FL, emailed Inside FHA/VA Lending a copy of the contract with the controversial language embedded in Section 8 under the heading “Mortgage Commitment Contingency.” The paragraph read in part, “… institutional lender agrees to make a first loan other than a VA, FHA or other governmentally insured loan, to purchaser …”. “The language makes clear that no government-backed loans such as VA, FHA or USDA are acceptable to the seller [of the property],” the lender, who requested anonymity, said. “It is pretty rampant as cash is king and no one on the selling side wants to wait for payment.” Apparently, such clauses are nothing new. In fact, they have been around for ...