Are you in the process of buying a home? There are several mortgage programs run by the government – FHA, VA, USDA for example. Fannie and Freddie also fall under government control since they were taken over by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. So are you affected by this?
For those using Fannie and Freddie programs, it shouldn’t affect you. If you are employed by the government, we are using alternative means to get employment verifications. We do need a verbal verification but Fannie and Freddie have said we can close the loan but not deliver it until we have the verbal. We are using current paystubs and w2’s for income.
If you are self employed, you will have an issue – we need the tax transcripts to verify income and right now we can’t get those. Most lenders want to see the tax transcripts before they will let you close.
For those buying using FHA, you should be ok. Most lenders use automated systems for loan approvals, so we can close FHA loans. If we need condo approvals, it may take longer unless the condo is already approved. If we need answers from FHA, it may take longer as they are operating with reduced personnel.
VA loans are not an issue – VA has said the government shut down will not affect them. The VA has a guide regarding government shut downs and home processing is not shut down by the VA.
USDA loans are not an option right now. We need to get a loan approval from our underwriters and from USDA. USDA is not issuing loan commitments right now, so until the government shut down is over, USDA loans cannot close. If you have a purchase agreement with a USDA loan, you will want to talk to your lender about options. You may need to extend your closing date or see if you can qualify for another program.
Hopefully the shut down will not last too much longer and we can get back to normal business. Just remember that the services that were shut down will be backlogged when the government re-opens, so it may take longer than expected to get your loan approvals.
Leslie Vanderwerf, NMLS ID#335509, American Mortgage & Equity Consultants, Inc., An Equal Housing Lender, NMLS#150953 – Email – Website
