New life for down payment assistance
The ruling, a copy of which AmeriDream provided to me, says the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "promulgation and explanation of the Final Rule suffer from multiple significant infirmities" that "inspire a good deal of doubt" about whether the rule was a good one. Judge Paul L. Friedman struck down the ruling and remanded it to HUD to try again.
AmeriDream is among the nonprofit groups that give down payment help to buyers getting FHA-insured loans, collecting money from sellers to fund that help.
HUD passed a rule last year to ban such seller-financed down payment assistance, saying it leads to a higher-than-average number of foreclosures. AmeriDream argued that it opened the door to homeownership for low- and moderate-income buyers. The group sued, winning a temporary injunction in October to stop the rule from going into effect until the court made a final decision.
It is, alas, much too late in the day for me to hope for HUD reaction. But the agency declined to comment to Bloomberg this week after a California judge ruled against HUD on another suit about seller-financed assistance.
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Comments
This administration, like a banana slug, is leaving a trail of goo behind it as it disappears into the sunset. This is just one more instance of a mis-guided, arrogant beauracracy trying to feather its own bed at the expense of the American public and its best interests. This judge used law, logic and reason to slap them down.
Posted by: Tom Carmody | March 6, 2008 12:34 PM