What happens on and after October 1st? RHO has confirmed with HUD/FHA that, contrary to information that has been circulating, the home sale/closing date generally is irrelevant when determining whether downpayment assistance may be provided. It is the credit/loan approval date that is relevant, as the law and HUD have made clear. What is the precise definition of "credit approved" as described in the housing bill (H.R.3221)? If a loan is manually underwritten, the approval date is the day on which the underwriter signs the Mortgage Credit Analysis Worksheet (MCAW) or the FHA Loan Underwriting and Loan Transmittal (LT). As long as the mortgage lender receives the credit/loan approval in accordance with the law and HUD/FHA guidelines, RHO will provide gift funds regardless of the date. The Future of Down Payment Assistance for FHA Loans The Responsible Home Ownership Program applauds the introduction of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and reform charitable downpayment assistance. The bill, H.R. 6694 sponsored by U.S. Rep. Al Green (TX-09), would remedy a harmful provision in the new housing law which limits homeownership opportunities for low and middle-income Americans. The legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Gary Miller (CA-42), Maxine Waters (CA-35), and Christopher Shays (CT-4) and reauthorizes and reforms charitable downpayment assistance funded in part by sellers, which has helped over one million families and individuals become homeowners since 1999. The program was eliminated by legislation signed by President Bush on July 30, 2008. The Green-Miller-Waters-Shays plan would make non-profit downpayment assistance an allowable gift source for FHA borrowers. The bill further seeks to ensure that providers of the downpayment assistance operate in a transparent manner to guard against conflicts of interest. It also includes language to ensure that the Federal Housing Administration maintains its financial stability by permanently authorizing the Secretary of the Department of Housing & Urban Development to assess higher premiums to higher risk borrowers. Click Here to view the entire legislation. "Congress has the power to mend - not end - downpayment assistance funded in part by sellers," said U.S. Rep. Al Green. "More than 100,000 hard-working families and individuals, many of them women and minorities, depend on these programs annually to become homeowners. I introduced this bipartisan legislation to preserve access to homeownership while protecting the FHA's solvency. I thank my colleagues, Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, Housing Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, and Reps. Gary Miller and Christopher Shays, for their support of this important legislation and for recognizing that the next generation of homeowners is counting on this program." More than 32,000 Americans have called on Congress and the Bush Administration to preserve charitable downpayment assistance over the past year through phone calls, letters, and emails. They join a broad coalition of supporters, including the National Association of Homebuilders, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.