Obama administration says housing agency needs $943 million
By Margaret Chadbourn
The cash-strapped Federal Housing Administration will likely require a $943 million taxpayer bailout to cover expected losses on loans it insured as the U.S. housing bubble was deflating, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.
It would be the first bailout of the government’s mortgage insurer in its nearly 80-year history.
The White House estimated the FHA has about $30 billion on hand, but said its cash reserves would likely be swamped by souring loans.
FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said the agency still might be able to avoid taking aid from the U.S. Treasury, despite the financial hole projected in President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget proposal. It has until September 30 to decide whether it needs a cash infusion.
“FHA, while still under stress from legacy loans, has made significant progress and is on a sound fiscal path forward,” she told reporters on a conference call.
In November, an independent audit found that the FHA faced a projected deficit of $16.3 billion. Since then, the agency has a taken a number of steps to shore up its finances, including raising the premiums borrowers pay. Galante said the policy changes could bring in about $18 billion this year.
The FHA is required by Congress to keep enough cash on hand to cover all expected future losses and must take a taxpayer subsidy if its projected revenue falls short.
“Since 2009, administration officials have repeatedly assured Congress and the American people that FHA was healthy and on a sustainable financial footing,” Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement. “The facts, however, as even the president’s own budget now confirms, prove otherwise.”
The FHA is a major source of funding for first-time home buyers and people with modest incomes. It currently backs $1.1 trillion in loans.
Last year, the White House said the FHA would need about $700 million from the Treasury to remain solvent, but legal settlements with the nation’s largest banks allowed the agency to avoid an infusion of taxpayer aid.
If the FHA does end up needing to draw on taxpayer funds this year, the amount of aid “could be a little higher, it could be a little lower” than the almost $1 billion from taxpayers the White House has projected, Galante said.
Courtesy of Reuters.com
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