FHA finalized a permanent stand-alone 40-year loan modification option for distressed borrowers.

The proposed changes are tied to registration of branch offices where lenders are authorized to conduct FHA business and to applicable fees.

Ginnie Mae has reduced the required minimum size for mortgage-backed securities pools with home-equity conversion mortgages from $1.0 million to $250,000.

FHA is taking comments through April 17 on a request for information on the barriers consumers and lenders face in accessing the FHA 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage program.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an agreement with Louisiana that will free borrowers from debt related to a program meant to mitigate against hurricane risk post Katrina.

FHA will expand its loss-mitigation options to borrowers at risk of default even if COVID-19 wasn’t the cause of their economic challenges.

The Urban Institute has called on federal housing agencies to accommodate automated valuation models as their starting points, with human appraisers checking the accuracy of the data as a back-up.

The National Consumer Law Center said FHA should reform its home equity conversion mortgage program to reduce the number of so-called preventable foreclosures.

The new proposal from USDA’s Rural Housing Service would eliminate the need for a second lien in new servicing options for non-performing home loans.

By targeting price cuts at low-FICO score and high-LTV borrowers, the new pricing grids of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could increase market overlap with FHA.