Secretary 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,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. “The result is a new and innovative Express Lane that will slash wait times by up to 90 percent. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re empowering the federal government to move urgently with commonsense compassion and deliver mission-minded results for the American people.”
To reduce the time between submitting 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 processing, which include, but are not limited to:
- A maximum of 70 percent 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 exceed $50 million ($70 million for the greater New York City area); and
- The application must be ready to underwrite and a Firm Commitment 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.
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