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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 66 August 2025 J O U R N A L construction is expected to slow and rent- al demand is expected to remain strong." Rep. Jimmy Gomez added: "This bill will restore faith and transparency to the renting process by putting an end to the profiteering of predatory landlords and property managers. In my district, where up to 80% of households rent, this bill will lift an unnecessary financial burden and help working families build real stability." HUD LAUNCHES 'EXPRESS LANE' TO ACCELERATE CARE FACILITY FINANCING S ecretary Scott Turner of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the opening of a new "Express Lane" to speed up applications for insured refinances from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under the FHA Section 232/223(f ) Mortgage Insurance for Residential Care Facilities program. For skilled nursing, assisted living, and board-and-care facilities, this new review procedure will speed up access to vital funding and drastically cut down on processing times. "We're eliminating needless delays that stand in the way of access to critical financing, which helps vulnerable Americans access vital services," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said. "The result is a new and innovative Express Lane that will slash wait times by up to 90%. Under President Trump's leadership, we're em- powering the federal government to move urgently with commonsense compassion and deliver mission-minded results for the American people." To reduce the time between submit- ting an application and receiving a Firm Commitment to 10 to 15 days, FHA will give priority to reviewing specific low-risk, low-leverage transactions under the new procedure. In the past, FHA handled all Section 232 application evaluations according to the application submission date, which led to processing times of up to 150 days for all transactions. FHA has specific criteria for transactions that will be eligible for Express Lane process- ing, which include, but are not limited to: • A maximum of 70% loan-to-value; • Limits on the allowable minimum Debt Service Coverage Ratios; • Specific quality of care attributes; • The facility operator must have been in place at the facility for two or more years prior to the application submission; • The mortgage amount must not ex- ceed $50 million ($70 million for the greater New York City area); and • The application must be ready to underwrite, and a Firm Commit- ment decision must be able to be made immediately upon submittal. Nursing homes, assisted living institutions, and board-and-care homes are among the residential care facilities covered under FHA's Section 232 Mortgage Insurance for Residential Care institutions program. FHA-approved lenders who create mortgages to fund the acquisition, refinance, new construction, or significant rehabilitation of a facility are eligible to participate in the program nationally. "This new process will cut the time between application submission and issuance of a Firm Commitment by 90% for qualified Residential Care Facilities," HUD said in an X post. HUD AND OMB BEGIN ROLLBACK OF PAVE TASK FORCE U .S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and Acting Administrator of the Office of In- formation and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jeffrey Clark have announced the termination of policies introduced under the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) task force. As part of the PAVE task force, members were directed to issue guidance on anti-discrimination obligations, review policies and practices, and issue new policies focused on "elimi- nating bias and advancing equity in home appraisals." Eliminating core policies of the PAVE Task Force upholds President Trump's Ex- ecutive Orders, including Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Delivering Emer- gency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis. The termination of specific poli- cies eliminates unnecessary regulatory hurdles imposed on lenders, appraisers, and other program participants, which will allow the Federal Housing Admin- istration (FHA) to better serve American homebuyers and homeowners. "By tearing down these onerous hurdles, we're freeing professionals from a tangle of red tape that drove up costs, inhibited access to homeownership, and discouraged market participation," HUD Secretary Turner said. "Under President Trump's leadership, the Biden era's obsession with DEI and overregulation is over. At HUD, we're restoring common sense and putting the American Dream of homeownership back within reach." On June 1, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the creation of the PAVE Task Force, co-chaired at the time by then HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice. The Task Force was directed to evaluate the causes, extent, and conse- quences of appraisal bias and to establish a transformative set of recommendations to root out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations. The 13-member agencies and offices of the Task Force engaged phil- anthropic organizations, academics, civil rights leaders, housing industry stake- holders, and everyday Americans who currently own, or aspire to own, a home. The PAVE Task Force heard their stories, perspectives, and ideas, and committed to a set of actions to help ensure that every American has a chance to build genera- tional wealth through homeownership.