The Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking a major step toward preventing an abusive lending practice known as flipping that has left thousands of unsuspecting home buyers on the hook for properties worth far less than what they owe on them.

Effective June 2, the Federal Housing Administration will no longer insure mortgages on properties that have been sold more than once in 90 days. And if a repeat sale occurs between 91 and 180 days, lenders will be required to obtain an additional and independent appraisal.

The new rules are designed to stop "flipping," a maneuver in which speculators buy a rundown property, often at foreclosure, make a few cosmetic repairs, and sell them, sometimes within days, at artificially inflated prices.

Sometimes the houses are sold to fictitious buyers and then resold again and again at ever higher prices until they carry mortgages that far greater than their actual worth.

Then, when the monthly payments stop, if they have been made at all, lenders take over the properties and file claims with the FHA, which guarantees to make lenders whole if borrowers fail to meet their obligations.

Often when flipping schemes are discovered, sellers, lenders and appraisers are found to have been working together in the scam.

The new rule "represents a major step in our efforts to eliminate predatory lending practices," said HUD Secretary Mel Martinez.

FHA-insured mortgages are considered the financing of last resort for first-time, low and moderate-income and immigrants borrowers who don't meet the requirements set by conventional lenders. Without the FHA to back their loans, they would be forced to either pay higher rates and fees from so-called "subprime" lenders or wait until they can solve their credit issues.

The new policy was applauded by both lenders and community activists.

"It's excellent," said Armand Cosenza, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, whose members originate some 60 percent of all home loans. "There's no doubt that flipping is a major, major problem," the Cleveland mortgage broker said. "The sad part is, it applies only to FHA loans. It should be expanded to cover all loans."

Greg Jefferson of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, called the long-awaited move "a good step" in addressing one particular form of predatory lending.

But Jefferson, whose group is the nation's largest community organization with some 600 neighborhood chapters in 45 states, said there are a "number of other ways people can be victimized that remain unaddressed at the federal level."

He also said he'd like to see the government offer some form of assistance to buyers who already have been cheated and are still paying off inflated mortgages, even as their substandard homes are deteriorating around them.

There are some exceptions to the new anti-flipping rules. FHA-insured mortgages will still be available on houses taken back by HUD and then resold as well as on properties purchased by an employer or relocation company.

Otherwise, resales occurring 90 days or less following acquisition will not be eligible for an FHA-insured loan. Repeat sales executed within three months "imply pre-arranged transactions that often prove to be among the most egregious examples of predatory lending practices," HUD said.

For resales between 91 and 180 days, HUD will require lenders to provide additional documentation of value if the new purchase price exceeds the old price by more than 50 percent.

This threshold is high enough not to adversely affect legitimate rehabilitation efforts, HUD explained, but low enough to "still deter unscrupulous sellers, lenders and appraisers from attempting to flip properties and defraud home buyers."

In localities where HUD determines an inordinately high number or substantial pattern of abuses is taking place, a second appraisal will be required if the sales price has increased by 5 percent or more within the previous 12 months.

In addition to these time restrictions, HUD said buyers will be eligible for FHA-insured mortgages only when they purchase their houses from the owner of record. Transactions involving any sale or assignment of the sales contract, "a procedure often observed when the home buyer is determined to have been a victim of predatory practices," are no longer allowed.

Published: May 7, 2003

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.