federal housing administration

On Thursday, Congress moved to raise the loan ceiling for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration on Thursday, despite some lawmakers' fears of artificially propping up the market.

The reverse mortgage was invented to help seniors facing economic hardship access the equity in their homes. But these loan products are complicated, expensive and ripe for abuse, which lead a reader named Fred to ask DailyFinance's Laura Rowley for some advice. Here's what she told him:

The administration's proposed revamp of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is actually an offering of multiple policy options, essentially passing the political hot potato to the Republicans. Problem is, any fix is sure to make mortgages costlier, with potential harm to the housing market.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo were among banks that tightened credit standards for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration in a move that may put a crimp in the U.S. housing recovery by effectively eliminating 6.3 million people from the potential home buying pool.

The housing market dropped off a cliff in October, as the original Nov. 30th expiration date for the first-time home buyers tax credit approached, according to the Housing Market Monitor of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Add to that the 6.25% 60-day delinquency rate in the third...

As the economy is supposed to be emerging from the dark cave of deep recession, you might expect it would become easier for you to secure a mortgage in the months ahead. The truth is, however, that unless you start taking some key steps right now, you may find yourself still in that recessionary...

As mortgages continue to sour, the Federal Housing Administration's reserve fund continues to deteriorate. That's not a big surprise. What might be a surprise is the fact that the FHA can get bailout money from the U.S. Treasury without seeking approval from Congress. An automatic FHA bailout is...

On Wednesday, the Federal Housing Administration was supposed to release its independent audit determining the soundness of the agency. Many have questioned that soundness because, as of Oct. 1, its reserve fund dipped below the required 2 percent of the agency's outstanding loans for the first...

As of Oct. 1, for the first time in its history, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will see its cash reserves fall below the two percent minimum mandated by Congress. The cash reserve numbers were calculated as part of a required audit due out this fall, according to a report in The...