President Obama last week signed into law housing legislation that, among other provisions, reforms the current Federal Housing Administration restrictions on condominium financing. H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, passed unanimously in the U.S. House and Senate earlier this year with strong support from NAR.
Changes include efforts to make FHA’s recertification process substantially less burdensome while lowering FHA’s current owner-occupancy requirement from 50 percent to 35 percent. The law also requires FHA to replace existing policy on transfer fees with the less-restrictive model already in place at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
NAR pushed hard to see this legislation pass, and even testified in support of the bill before Congress.
Tom Salomone, president of NAR, praised the law as a significant step toward eliminating barriers to safe, affordable mortgage credit for condos.
“Realtors have reason to celebrate as legislation easing restrictions on FHA financing for condominiums is finally signed into law. This is a long-awaited victory for NAR and for homebuyers for whom condos are an important and affordable option,” Salomone said.
Source: National Association of Realtor