In an effort to streamline its lending process, the FHA has scrapped the requirement of a 10-year protection plan for newly constructed single-family homes, according to guidelines released this week.

FHA lenders can now outsource verification of a borrower’s employment, income and other assets to third-party vendors. The new guidance, which came into effect on Feb. 15, applies to all FHA forward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans.

Ginnie Mae’s latest guidance raising the minimum servicing spread will have little impact because most servicers already retain well above the minimum requirement, according to analysts with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

FHA has tweaked its mortgage scorecard to address concerns surrounding loans with higher-risk characteristics such as cash-out refinances and high debt-to-income ratios.

A roundup of stories covering the government mortgage sector.

Lenders will no longer be able to edit appraisals in FHA’s Electronic Appraisal Delivery portal. They will have to submit a corrected appraisal to update the field.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has urged policymakers to strengthen the ability of Ginnie Mae to supervise independent mortgage bankers.

Concerned with the increasing number of nonbank lenders in the mortgage market and tight liquidity conditions, Ginnie Mae has started developing stress tests for its largest issuers.

Ginnie Mae will not be able to conform its pooling requirements to the VA interim final rule on cash-out refinancing because doing so would be contrary to the provisions of the Dodd-Frank reform act, the agency noted.

Congress is reportedly considering a legislative proposal to charge higher guarantee fees for VA mortgages to cover healthcare costs of Korean and Vietnam War veterans who were ex-posed to herbicides, such as Agent Orange and other toxic agents.