the wasserblawg

Stop me if you have heard this one before. FHA financing has become more prevalent in the market over the last two years as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tightened the reigns on low down payment condo loans. More and more condo deals (at least the ones I am seeing) are being financed by FHA backed loans - they are still guaranteeing loans for up to 97% of a purchase price. That may change soon in the wake of FHA's Mortgage Letter 09-19, issued earlier this week. Lending guidelines for condominiums are changing. again. Basically, FHA requires that both the borrower and the property must satisfy lending guidelines. Condo approvals come in three different flavors: The Condominium is already on HUD's approved list; The developer or association apply for an approval of the entire building/project (to get on that list) - a "blanket" approval; or, The specific unit is approved on an ad hoc basis - a "spot" approval. Spot approvals require certain specified requi

Back in March , I wrote about HB 0155 . The bill would effectively prohibit a condominium from exercising a right of first refusal to bar a potential buyer from purchasing a unit because that buyer wants to finance the deal with an FHA loan. That bill, slightly amended, has passed out of the State House & Senate and awaits the Governor's signature or veto (more on that below). Many Condo Declarations contain a broad rights of first refusal over sale contracts. FHA lending guidelines prohibit them, that is to say, they will not lend to buyers wishing to purchase into associations that restrict sales in this manner. (Don't get me started on the "logic" behind the guideline - I have only seen the right actually exercised once in the last 10 years). This new law would simply tell Condo Associations - hey, don't even think of exercising that right you aren't going to use anyway. So if we ban Associations from asserting the right of first refusal, does that mea