FHA to Extend Waiver of Anti-Flipping Regs

In an effort to continue stabilizing home values and improve conditions in communities experiencing high foreclosure activity, the FHA has extended a temporary waiver of its anti-flipping regulations through 2012.

The extension is intended to “accelerate the resale of foreclosed properties in neighborhoods struggling to overcome the possible effects of abandonment and blight, according to a spokesperson.

With certain exceptions, FHA rules prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. In 2010, however, FHA temporarily waived this regulation through January 31, 2011, and later extended that waiver through the remainder of 2011.

The new extension will permit buyers to continue to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned properties, bank-owned properties, or properties resold through private sales. It will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.

The extension announced this week is effective through December 31, 2012, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by FHA. All other terms of the existing waiver will remain the same. The waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to prevent the predatory practice of property flipping, in which properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, and continues to be limited to sales meeting the following conditions:

All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction;

In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the sellers acquisition cost, the Waiver will apply only if the lender meets specific conditions, and documents the justification for the increase in value; and

The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

Since the original waiver went into effect on February 1, 2010, FHA has insured nearly 42,000 mortgages worth more than $7 billion on properties resold within 90 days of acquisition.

FHA research finds that in todays market, acquiring, rehabilitating and reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.

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