FHA Approves Using Tax Credit for Closing Costs

Very interesting. Unprecedented even FHA Ok with Up Front Tax Credit or, in other words, using the tax credit money at closing.

We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a downpayment. So FHA will permit trusted FHA-approved lenders and HUD-approved nonprofits, as well as state and local governmental entities to "monetize" the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. We think the policy is a real win for everyone, ensuring that borrowers can tap into the numerous organizations that are already part of the FHA network to receive this additional benefit. FHA will be publishing the details shortly.

This isn't necessarily to say the lenders themselves will permit it - but it's fine with the FHA. I suspect the lenders are going to run with it, myself. The stumbling block in the past has always been that people with a tax credit coming don't necessarily get the money. Sometimes they have other debts, sometimes they have an unexpected tax liability. When that happens, there's a short that has to be repaid, creating a debt and usually payments, impacting debt to income ratio among other things. But if the financial guarantor of FHA loans is saying they'll write the loan guarantee with such a bridge loan in place, who are the lenders (whose profit making loans are being guaranteed) to argue? The question will be "on what terms will these short term bridge loans be written?"