HUD’s Office of Production issued temporary, three-month guidance implementing a procedural change to its underwriting queue to improve process efficiency. This change permits eligible pre-applications for FHA Section 221(d)(4) mortgage insurance to convert to firm applications while in the underwriting assignment queue, and future eligible applications to submit a direct-to-firm commitment.
The direct to firm election and flexibility is entirely at the option of the borrower and lender, provided the project remains consistent with current MAP Guide policy permitting streamlined processing.
