Welcome to the FHA Information Page.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is the largest mortgage insurer in the world. It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). FHA was created in 1934 by Congress. It is the only government agency that is not funded by the tax payers. All of FHA's operating expenses are self-generated. The insurance homeowners pay through FHA is collected into an account used to operate the program.

FHA was established after the Great Depression. 22% of the American population was jobless. The housing industry was in serious decline and only 40% of the people were homeowners. FHA's primary goal was to encourage home ownership. In the first year alone, over 250,000 FHA loans were made at up to 80% of the appraised value. In its 74 year history, almost 33 million home mortgages and 47,205 multifamily project mortgages have been insured. FHA currently has 4.8 million insured single family mortgages and 13,000 insured multifamily projects in its portfolio.

FHA was the first to require that properties must meet certain standards in order to be eligible for financing. They established standards that helped play a significant factor in the development of national model building codes and their subsequent adoption by thousands of local communities. In April 1973 the Handbook 4150 was introduced. It has been revised 4 additional times. Handbook 4150.2, Revised Appendix D, effective January 1, 2006, is the most recent revision.

FHA also publishes Mortgagee Letters (MLs), which are changes in FHA policies and procedures. These letters are written mostly for lenders but do sometimes have changes that affect appraisers. (All information reprinted by permission from the Appraisal Institute 2007 seminar FHA and the New Residential Appraisal Forms)

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