Tag Archives: Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund

The Department believes that its new rule will serve as a critical home retention tool for borrowers in a volatile interest rate market.

The FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund currently covers both forward and reverse mortgages. But is that really the best way to asses risk for the programs?

When FHA announced it was lowering its mortgage insurance premiums in January by 50 basis points down to 0.85 percent, the move drew intense criticism from Republican lawmakers who accused the agency of cutting off a revenue stream while the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund capital ratio sat at 0.41 percent, less than one-quarter of the 2 percent threshold required by Congress.

FY2015 marked the third consecutive year of economic growth for the FHA’s MMI fund. The growth of the fund allows FHFA to expand credit access to qualified borrowers; the annual report noted a significant increase in loan volume during FY 2015 which FHA largely attributed to a reduction of 50 basis points to mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) in January 2015.

In its annual report to Congress, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Monday that the Federal Housing Administration's Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund has grown by $21 billion in the last two years and now has an economic value of $4.8 billion with a current capital ratio of 0.41 percent after being in the red two years ago.