Realty Times - President Clinton Signs $105 Billion Appropriations Bill

Front Page

NEED HELP?

Click for Live Support

Call: 214-353-6980

President Clinton Signs $105 Billion Appropriations Bill

by Lew Sichelman

Ending weeks of uncertainty, President Clinton has signed a $105 billion appropriations bill that includes a 27-month extension of a simplified downpayment formula for federally-insured mortgages.

Under the legislation, lenders will be allowed to determine the amount of money needed for a downpayment on FHA loans using a streamlined, two-step calculation that reduces the out- of-pocket expenses for borrowers with loans greater than $125,000.

About 200,000 first-time purchasers and lower-income families stand to benefit annually.

The program was first introduced in 1998 as a two-year pilot. The test period ended Sept. 30, and Congress and the Administration has been going round-and-round ever since, with the White House using an extension as a bargaining tool to obtain greater funding for federal housing and veterans programs.

As it is, the $30.6 billion fiscal 2001 spending bill for HUD was some $1.5 billion short of what the Administration requested. But the simplified downpayment formula will be effective for all loans closed through Dec. 31, 2002.

Published: November 2, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Related Articles:

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.

Real Estate News Network