Should we be concerned about House Financial Services Chairmen, Jeb Hensarling’s, comments on the financial health of the FHA? In a statement released Wednesday, Hensarling said, “FHA has suffered a severe case of mission creep, and the unfortunate truth is that the lack of sound underwriting, and risk management puts taxpayers, homebuyers and our overall economy in harm’s way,”.
Woah… those are some powerful words. Lack of sound underwriting?
We’re talking about lower income families that are seen as “riskier” borrowers. Shouldn’t the standard for underwriting FHA loans be a little tighter? I do think it’s worth noting the situation from the beginning of this year that put 2 industry giants in the dog house over claims that they were not meeting FHA requirements for underwriting standards. Claims, which lead to 1 giant paying out a handsome sum to the Justice Department. It begs the question, how closely is the FHA reviewing the quality standards on their insured loans? With talks of housing reform picking up steam in Washington, it’ll be very interesting to see how our nation’s leaders handle GSE reform and the financial stability of FHA.
In other news… the Steelers are set to take on the Tennessee Titans tonight and I’m fired up for the game. I think the Steelers edge the Titans out 38 – 27 in a bit of a shootout. The Steelers secondary is a little banged up, but the riff between Big Ben and offense coordinator, Todd Haley, should mean fireworks as Big Ben will look to run the no huddle and avoid Haley’s play calling. I’m excited to watch it all unfold!