The FHA’s Role in Home Financing
The Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, was founded in 1934 in order to help more Americans get access to the housing they need. To do this, the FHA sets construction standards and insures loans from private lenders in order to make it easier for homebuyers to get financing. Loans insured by the FHA include its flagship 203b loan, designed for 1-4 unit owner-occupied properties (including manufactured homes) as well as FHA 223(f) loans for multifamily property acquisition and refinance and FHA 221(d)(4) loans for multifamily construction and substantial rehabilitation. Since it was founded, the FHA, along with HUD (The Department of Housing and Urban Development) has insured upwards of 34 million home mortgages and nearly 50,000 multifamily mortgages across the U.S.