FHA Changes The Lending Rules

SUSIE GHARIB: Housing regulators announced new plans today to tighten their lending standards. The Federal Housing Administration hopes the move will protect taxpayers and support the housing market. Stephanie Dhue explains.

STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The FHA is a key player in the mortgage market, insuring about a third of all new mortgages. FHA Commissioner David Stevens says the tighter lending standards are significant, but not overwhelming for most borrowers.

KAREN PETROU, FEDERAL FINANCIAL ANALYTICS: As a government agency, the FHA is still lending into a headwind, so we have a couple of moving pieces here. One is fixing FHA, but more important still is fixing the mortgage market and FHA can’t recover until it does.

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