HUD’s Office of the Inspector General will evaluate how the department hires new employees and in what timeframe.

The Justice Department sees no need to issue additional guidance on defective FHA loans. The agency believes the actions undertaken so far will encourage depository institutions’ participation in the FHA program.

FHA reforms suggested by the MBA include streamlining of servicing requirements and standardization of guidelines for downpayment assistance programs.

HUD’s inspector general reported $69.0 million in financial recoveries from 30 administrative-civil actions related to FHA fraud and $39.2 million in settlements with two FHA lenders.

FHA has asked lenders and servicers to review existing guidance for originating and servicing forward loans and HECMs in presidentially declared major disaster areas.

The revised defect taxonomy will hardly nudge banks to return to or increase participation in FHA programs despite tighter standards for identifying and curing defective loans, according to industry stakeholders.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers sent a letter urging HUD to engage with Native American tribes before formulating any rulemaking, such as on downpayment assistance, that would impact tribal organizations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service finalizes a rule designed to streamline the loss-claim process under its single-family housing guaranteed loan program for lenders that have acquired real estate-owned property through voluntary liquidation or foreclosure.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has urged House leadership to stop further hikes in VA home-loan funding fees to pay for non-housing veteran benefits. The spending on future veterans’ benefits should be shared by all Americans or paid through direct appropriation of funds, they say.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill prohibiting deceptive advertising and marketing of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. The law takes effect March 5, 2020.