The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) plays a critical role in homeownership, yet impediments exist keeping credit unions from accessing the FHA lending program. CUNA submitted a letter Thursday to a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on the FHA.

“Chief among these is the absence of a FHA regulatory environment where lenders can operate with clarity and certainty regarding the program requirements and the potential penalties for noncompliance,” the letter reads. “Recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed amendments to the FHA lender annual certification statements designed to increase lender confidence. We welcome the FHA’s commitment to provide the clarity and certainty necessary to increase lender participation in the FHA program.”

CUNA made several suggestions that could go a long way toward creating a regulatory environment that boosts credit unions’ confidence in the FHA program.

These include:

• Implementation of a coordinated and complementary annual certification;
• Loan-level certification; and
• Defect Taxonomy that provides lenders with greater certainty regarding loan review