HUD Updates Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1

HUD recently published multiple revisions to its Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (the Handbook).  Some of the revisions include the following:

• removing exemptions for certain new institutions from providing income and cash flow statements as part of the Mortgagee approval process;
• updating the process for canceling and reinstating case numbers;
• adding descriptions of foreign income as a new section for “Other Sources of Effective Income”;
• conforming guidance on temporary interest rate buydowns between the TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard and Manual underwriting sections;
• clarifying that principal and interest monthly payments may increase when the target payment is not achieved; and
• clarifying that excluded property preservation expenses are not included in the $5,000 maximum property preservation allowance, and that an over-allowable request for an excluded expense is not required if the cost of the excluded expense is equal to or less than the amount listed in Appendix 7.0.A.