HUD Revises FHA Recertification Fee Calculation, Issues 2013 Loan Limits

HUD FHA

On December 11, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2012-27, which changes the way the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will calculate the recertification fee for its approved lenders. Effective immediately, FHA will calculate recertification fees based on the number of FHA-approved branch offices as of the first business day of the lender’s annual reporting period. Lenders that wish to terminate branches and thereby not pay a recertification fee for the next annual period must do so on or before the last business day of the annual reporting period. On December 6, Mortgagee Letter 12-26 announced the FHA’s single-family loan limits for 2013. The FHA national loan limit floor remains at 65 percent of the national conforming limit (which holds constant at $417,000 for a one-unit property). The letter also lists the maximum FHA loan limits by property size for areas designated as high-cost. The letter also identifies certain exceptions to the limits, and notes that the FHA maximum claim amount for reverse mortgages remains at the statutory limit of $625,500.