House Votes to Block FHA Anti-DPA Rule

The House has passed a Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill after inserting language that prohibits the department from implementing a rule that would block seller-funded downpayment assistance on Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages.Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Gary Miller, R-Calif., offered the amendment, approved by voice vote, so that downpayment assistance providers like Nehemiah and AmeriDream can continue to assistance low-income families to become homeowners. "With passage of this amendment and the overwhelming support of the House of Representatives, the dream of homeownership for millions of Americans in need of downpayment assistance is alive and well," said Scott Syphax, president and chief executive of Nehemiah Corporation of America, Oakland, Calif. HUD recently proposed to ban seller-funded downpayment assistance, maintaining that it leads to inflated appraisals and high foreclosure rates on FHA loans. The HUD appropriations bill also increases FHA multifamily loan limits in high-cost areas and suspends for one year a cap on the number of reverse mortgages the FHA can insure.