House to Vote Today to Give HUD Secretary More FHA Mortgage Power

Published on August 2, 2010 by Hayden · No Comments

WASHINGTON D.C. (LoanSafe.org) – The House is expected to consider H.R. 5981, on the House floor today, under a motion to suspend the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. This legislation was introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

The bill would allow FHA to raise its annual premiums to borrowers up to 1.55 percent (currently capped in law at 0.55 percent).

On June 10, 2010, the House voted to approve H.R. 5072 by a vote of 406–4. One reform included in H.R. 5072 was providing FHA with the authority to raise the annual mortgage insurance premium for new borrowers from thecurrent cap of 0.55 percent to 1.55 percent for borrowers with mortgages at or below 95 percent of value and from 0.50 to 1.50 percent for borrowers with mortgages below 95 percent of value. The Senate has yet to consider H.R. 5072.

A CBO cost estimate of H.R. 5981 is not yet available.