FHA in Trouble?
In July of 2007 the news media was abuzz with the news that one of the largest mortgage lenders in the United States was set to go down in flames. That was then this is now. The Federal Housing Administration, FHA, began touting no down payment options when the private sector realized the nightmare that was on their doorstep. I remember commenting to my colleagues that the “No Down Payment” schemes were terrible but that the government’s insistence to continue this practice was not a good thing for our market. Some argued that this was a necessary program that offered an alternative to the potential pool of buyers who wanted to own a home but just needed that extra help. Today in the Wall Street Journal it was noted that 24% of the loans issued in 2007 are going bad and an additional 20% of the 2008 loans will go bad as well. Responsible lending must be the key to a recovery and not the quick fixes that we so often run to. The government pilloried the private banks for their shameful practices, but then did the same thing as the market was disintegrating with their own agency—the FHA.
Posted by:
Glenn Hanon
