REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Brooklyn Law School

October 13, 2017

Rethinking FHA Insurance

By David Reiss

The Congressional Budget Office issued a report on Options to Manage FHA’s Exposure to Risk from Guaranteeing Single-Family Mortgages. FHA insurance stands out from other forms of mortgage insurance because it guarantees all of a lender’s loss, rather than just … Continue reading

April 19, 2017

How Tight Is The Credit Box?

By David Reiss

Laurie Goodman of the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center has posted a working paper, Quantifying the Tightness of Mortgage Credit and Assessing Policy Actions. The paper opens, Mortgage credit has become very tight in the aftermath of the financial … Continue reading

April 11, 2017

What Is a HUD Foreclosure?

By David Reiss

Realtor.com quoted me in What Is a HUD Foreclosure? A Home That’s Below Market Value. It reads, “Foreclosure” is a scary word with a simple definition: It’s the process of a lender attempting to recoup the balance owed on a loan … Continue reading

March 17, 2017

Can Downpayment Assistance Work?

By David Reiss

The HUD Inspector General issued a report on FHA-Insured Loan with Borrower-Financed Downpayment Assistance. Downpayment assistance has a long history of failure, a history that has led to big losses for the FHA and foreclosures for borrowers. The IG audited … Continue reading

February 9, 2017

The FHA Rollback’s Impact on Homebuyers

By David Reiss

MortgageLoan.com quoted me in How Will Killing FHA Insurance Rollback Affect Borrowers? It opens, Less than an hour after being sworn in as president, Donald Trump signed his first executive order, eliminating a drop in FHA mortgage insurance premiums that was … Continue reading

February 3, 2017

Whither FHA Premiums?

By David Reiss

Various NBC News affiliates quoted me in What You Need To Know About Trump’s Reversal of the FHA Mortgage Insurance Rate Cut. It opens, On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to undo a quarter-point … Continue reading

January 30, 2017

What Is at Stake with the FHA?

By David Reiss

The Hill published my column, The Future of American Home Ownership Under President Trump. It reads,  One of the Trump Administration’s first official actions was to reverse the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance premium cut that was announced in the … Continue reading