Single Family Mortgage Insurance; Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure Notice

This final rule implements a recent statutory amendment to HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Single Family Mortgage Insurance Program. The statutory amendment requires an original lender to provide certain information, in the form of a disclosure notice, to prospective borrowers who have applied for an FHA-insured home mortgage; and that HUD develop this disclosure notice. Specifically, through the disclosure notice, the lender must provide the prospective FHA borrower with an analysis comparing the mortgage costs of the FHA- insured mortgage with the mortgage costs of other similar conventional mortgage products that the lender offers and that the borrower may qualify for. The disclosure notice must also provide information about when the requirement to pay FHA mortgage insurance premiums terminates. This final rule takes into consideration public comment received on the February 16, 1999 proposed rule.