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MBA Praises HUD Decision on MIP

By Dana Enfinger

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) lauded the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) decision to rescind a notice that would have increased the mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) of a number of multifamily programs.

“After the administration proposed the fee increase in its 2008 budget, 117 members of the House and 38 senators signed letters to HUD opposing the premium increase. HUD listened to those concerns as well as the 229 letters submitted by the industry stating the Federal Housing Administration is a vital financing mechanism, particularly in the current volatile credit markets,” said MBA Chairman Kieran Quinn in a prepared statement.

The MBA provided evidence that the programs affected by the increased fee were providing affordable housing. The MBA survey, which looked at programs affected by the proposed MIP increase, found that 98 percent of the properties had average rents affordable to families earning 80 percent or less of area median income.