Housing
More on Housing
By Corbett B. Daly
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to shore up the finances of the cash-strapped Federal Housing Administration while also backing a measure to raise the loan limits for FHA-backed mortgages used to develop some apartment buildings.
In a 406-4 vote, lawmakers approved legislation to strengthen the FHA's finances by giving it authority to nearly triple the annual fees it charges to borrowers, known as mortgage insurance premiums.
by Roberta Rampton
Representative Barney Frank introduced legislation on Friday to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through September, which would give Congress more time to fix the troubled program.
The insurance program, important to more than 5 million homes and businesses in flood plains, has been in debt since major hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. Reform efforts stalled in Congress last year.
by Matthew Jaffe
Seth Wheeler, who designed the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program, has left his post as a senior advisor at the Treasury Department.
Wheeler, who started at the agency under the Bush regime's Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, has reportedly gone to work for Habitat for Humanity.
He played a key role in crafting the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, which offers incentives to banks to modify the mortgages of struggling homeowners in an effort to help them avoid foreclosure.
By Bruce Alpert
Washington bureau
A U.S. House committee approved legislation Tuesday that would let property owners buy wind coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program.
The bill, approved 40-25 by the House Financial Services Committee, now goes to the full House, which passed the measure two years ago.
By Kevin Drawbaugh
A bill to overhaul the troubled National Flood Insurance Program, which covers more than five million homes and businesses in flood-prone areas, was approved on Tuesday by a congressional committee.
The bill, if approved in the full House and Senate, would reauthorize the program for five years and delay implementation of new rate maps for flood zones so homeowners newly included in a flood zone do not face an immediate new insurance cost.