In a joint comment letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development last week, the American Bankers Association and three other financial and housing trade associations offered feedback on a recent proposal by the Federal Housing Administration to revise the annual certification statements for lenders. The groups expressed support for replacing the current annual certification statements with those recommended in the proposal, and suggested several specific clarifications.
“We welcome FHA’s commitment to provide the clarity and certainty necessary to increase lender participation in the FHA program,” the groups wrote, urging HUD to implement the changes as quickly as possible. “Implementation of a coordinated and complementary annual certification, loan-level certification and defect taxonomy is necessary to create and foster a regulatory environment that will boost lender confidence in the FHA program.”