A new law has been passed (H.R. 3700 – the “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act”) that will help remove barriers to safe, affordable mortgage lending for condominiums.  A lot of first time home buyers haven’t been able to purchase condominiums because the lending was so strict.

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) said this is a “significant step” in eliminating barriers to safe, affordable mortgage credit for condos.

NAR reporting the following about the bill:  it will make the Federal Housing Administration’s recertification process “substantially less burdensome” and will lower FHA’s owner-occupancy requirement from 50 percent to 35 percent. The bill will require the FHA to replace an existing policy on transfer fees with a less-restrictive model that has already been in place at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Read the full article here.