What is FHA

• FHA (Federal Housing Authority) was created in 1934 as part of HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), and was chartered to provide lending on single family homes throughout the United States and its territories. Since 1934, FHA has insured more than 34 million home mortgages throughout the U.S. and its territories.
  
  

FHA Underwriter Requirements

• Lenders must use FHA approved underwriters to review and approve any FHA loan. These underwriters, recognized by their Chums ID number (unique identifier used by HUD), are experience with three to five years minimum underwriting conventional loans. FHA no longer approves underwriters directly, but empowers the lenders to approve underwriters who then affirm to FHA that the new underwriters meet the guidelines. To be approved, underwriters must attend formal training classes, pass knowledge and skills tests, and complete 10 test files to show proficiency prior to FHA issuing the certification.
  
  

FHA Tools

• FHA has four Home Ownership Centers (HOCs) located around the country. They are located in Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Santa Ana, Calif. These HOCs provide training and support for all FHA approved underwriters and companies. Sometimes they HOCs provide training within the HOC for anyone who can attend. Typically companies will call the HOCs with questions concerning FHA guidelines and scenarios.
  
  

FHA Training Types

• FHA offers training in cities outside of the HOCs. FHA will send trainers to all major metropolitan areas to help assist FHA approved companies comply with FHA guidelines more effectively. In addition to these hands-on training events, FHA offers many webinars, often for free. In addition to single event trainings, FHA offers recurring training on its most popular subjects and workshops.
  
  

FHA Training Subjects

• FHA training goes beyond subjects pertaining only to FHA. Recent regulatory changes affecting the whole mortgage industry are often the subject of training. Training for the major areas of underwriting (income, assets, credit and collateral) are constantly being offered to help everyone working with FHA loans. These trainings even go beyond loan approval and into servicing and loss mitigation training as well.