InfoBytes Blog
HUD Seeks Comments on Potential Changes to FHA's Quality Assurance Process
Recently, HUD published a notice seeking public comments on “ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness” of FHA’s quality assurance process (QAP). In the notice, HUD explains that it is seeking to enhance its oversight of FHA single-family lenders by evaluating single family quality assurance alternatives that would better align with FHA’s mission. Specifically, HUD aims to ensure that it maintains and improves a quality assurance framework that (i) does not hinder or dissuade lending to FHA-targeted populations; (ii) enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the QAP; (iii) ensures compensation to FHA for defects resulting from the lender manufacturing process; and (iv) applies fairly to all lenders. In addition, HUD also endeavors to establish a framework that ensures that loans are reviewed within a reasonable time period, post-endorsement; in order to allow FHA to use loan quality findings to improve credit policy and to allow lenders to improve their FHA origination practices. HUD particularly seeks public comments on (i) the types of loan manufacturing or compliance defects found in the QAP that should be subject to indemnification or other administrative remedies or a combination of responses; (ii) how the FHA’s review and comparison of early defaults and claims may achieve an improved assessment of a mortgagee’s performance – for example, HUD is considering establishing a specific standard of defaults and claims which mortgagees should not exceed within a given construct; (iii) whether FHA should establish a threshold manufacturing (or loan deficiency) risk tolerance; and (iv) whether FHA should establish a process to review a statistically significant random sample of loans for each mortgagee within a prescribed time frame after loan endorsement to estimate defect rates. Comments on the potential changes are due by September 9, 2013.