Section 223(a)(7) of the National Housing Act authorizes HUD to insure mortgages given to refinance existing HUD-insured mortgages. In the past, HUD's implementing regulations have prohibited the refinanced mortgage amount from exceeding a stated percentage of the value of the property. This value criterion precluded some troubled projects from lowering their debt service payments and gaining a more sound financial footing. On October 26, 1993, HUD published an interim rule in the Federal Register deleting the value criterion from the HUD regulations implementing Section 223(a)(7), which was extended by a notice published on October 26, 1994. This rule makes final the policies contained in the October 26, 1993, interim rule.