Neil Roland over at Bloomberg put up this update today about the pending Senate FHA bill:
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate is likely to pass a bill to give home buyers an alternative to subprime loans by making it easier for them to get mortgage insurance from the government, Senator Charles Schumer said.
The bill, which passed the Senate Banking Committee last month, would raise loan limits for home buyers and lower their required down payments. The House passed a similar measure last month with more generous provisions for home buyers.
“Raising FHA limits is long overdue,” Schumer, 56, a New York Democrat who heads the Senate Banking subcommittee on housing, said in an interview today.
Congress and the Bush administration are trying to address the worst housing slump in 16 years by turning to the FHA to aid some of the more than 2 million homeowners who have fallen behind on mortgage payments.