The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has agreed to stay the effective date of Mortgagee Letter 19-06 for 90 days. MassHousing will provide guidance upon evaluation of any future changes resulting from pending litigation.

As a reminder, MassHousing’s policy regarding the use of the IRS Form 4506-T to validate the borrower’s first-time home buyer status and income documentation for underwriting and QC purposes requires the lender to have each borrower (regardless of income source) complete and sign a separate IRS Form 4506-T for each type of transcript required at application. In addition, lenders must process the IRS Form 4506-T and obtain tax transcripts for the three years preceding the closing date on all MassHousing loans. Please refer to Announcement 2015.16 and Section 3.1.6 of our Seller Guide for additional detail on our requirements should tax transcripts be unattainable.