FHA Loans Still Available During Goverment Shutdown

• September 30, 2013

by UrbanTurf Staff

If the government shuts down tomorrow, FHA loans will continue rolling along.

In guidance released Friday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said that it will “endorse new loans under current multi-year appropriation authority in order to support the health and stability of the U.S. mortgage market.” That said, the agency did indicate that the loans could take a bit longer to endorse.

As to the potential impact on the housing market if the shutdown continues beyond just a few days, that’s another story. From HUD:

Because we are able to endorse loans, we don’t expect the impact on the housing market to be significant, as long as the shutdown is brief. If the shutdown lasts and our commitment authority runs out, we do expect that potential homeowners will be impacted, as well as home sellers and the entire housing market. We could also see a decline in home sales during an extended shutdown period, reversing the trend toward a strengthening market that we’ve been experiencing.

A limited number of FHA staff will be available to answer questions and respond to emails in the event of a government shutdown. Full guidance from HUD can be found here.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/fha_loans_should_continue_during_goverment_shutdown/7626