NAR Calls for Expansion of FHA’s 203(k) Program

Moe Veissi, the 2012 President of NAR, recently sent a letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requesting that investors be permitted to participate in the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Section 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program to purchase vacant and foreclosed properties in need of significant rehabilitation. Amending the 203(k) Program will help restore vibrant housing markets and neighborhoods across the country and people will be put to work fixing these homes.

FHA’s 203(k) Program allows homebuyers and homeowners to a) purchase a house including the cost of its rehabilitation through a single mortgage, or b) finance the rehabilitation of their existing home. Section 203(k) fills a unique and important need for homebuyers in another way as well. Section 203(k) insured loans save the borrower’s time and money, and also protect lenders by allowing them to have the loan insured even before the condition and value of the property may offer adequate security.

Julie Woodson
Director of Political Communications
jwoodson@ncrealtors.org