Study of the HUD Minimum Property Standards for One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Technical Suitability of Products Programs. Part 1: Minimum Property Standards for One- and Two-Family Dwellings

摘要

This is a study of the one- and two-family dwelling portion of the HUD Minimum Property Standards (MPS) program, a well known and once venerated building regulatory program associated with the approval of HUD-insured mortgage loans. The one- and two-family dwelling portion of the MPS is used for qualifying 'high-ratio' loans for new homes (loans for 90 percent or more of a home's value), and, nationwide, it applies to about one half of one percent of all home mortgages. The MPS has its roots in the National Housing Act of 1934, the law that created HUD's predecessor, the Federal Housing Administration, and the nation's first government-backed mortgage insurance program. An examination of the multifamily housing portion of the MPS was not included in this study. Information for the study was gathered by reviewing the statutory, regulatory, and administrative documents and procedures governing the MPS and by interviewing present and retired MPS staff from HUD's Washington, D.C., headquarters, personnel from HUD's four regional Home Ownership Centers, and representatives from the home building and building products industries.