I don’t believe you can. A little consolation is that you are not the only one. The purpose of the FHA house inspection has been misinterpreted by generations of homebuyers all through the years. The FHA only insures your mortgage; it does not guarantee the flawlessness of the property being bought. They do conduct an inspection of the property, but their purpose is rather to protect HUD and the lender by making sure that the house is in an acceptable condition. The statement is to be found here. They are not obliged to disclose the results of this inspection to the borrower or assume any responsibility, if the borrower blindly trusted their silence on the matter.

This whole issue was eliminated by the FHA Modernization Act of 2008 (within the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008), or rather suspended for the period starting October 1, 2008 through September 30th, 2009. Before September 30, 2008 first-time homebuyers with credit score below 559 and LTV above 95 were eligible for a reduction in upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) by 0.25% – so that the premium did not exceed 2.00%. The borrower was required to complete a HUD-approved pre-purchase counseling session to become eligible. FHA would only provide the discount after one had successfully completed the course and received a certificate of completion.

The new size of the upfront premium:

• Purchase Money Mortgages and Full-Credit Qualifying Refinances = 1.75 Percent
• Streamline Refinances (all types) = 1.50 Percent

Since the new premiums are in effect now with 1 kind of percentage, this whole reduction concept does not apply any more. But there is always a chance that after September 30, 2009 the rules will be restored.

The FHA insures only a limited range of mortgages provided by FHA-approved lenders. PMI insurers service mortgages of the conventional market.

PMI is required if a homebuyer borrows more than 80% of the property’s purchase price in one loan; the FHA insurance is required for any FHA mortgage, irrespective of the size of the down payment provided. The premiums for both insurances get cancelled at a certain point (was not true of FHA premiums before Jan. 1, 2001), but the conditions for this to happen are different. The FHA insurance payments include 2 parts: the upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) and the annual premium remitted on a monthly basis – the mutual mortgage insurance (MMI). The UFMIP is an obligatory payment, which can either be made in cash at closing or financed into the loan, so that you really pay it over the life of the loan. It adds a certain amount to your monthly payments, but this is not PMI, nor is it the MMI. The MMI premiums come on top of that for all FHA Purchase Money Mortgages, Full-Qualifying Refinances, and Streamline Refinances, except for < 15-year FHA mortgages with loan-to-value ratio (LTV) < 90. When we talk about canceling the FHA insurance, we talk only about the MMI part of it. If you have financed the UFMIP into the loan, you cannot cancel this part. The MMI premium gets terminated automatically once the unpaid principal balance, excluding the upfront premium, reaches 78% of the lower of the initial sales price or appraised value. The insurance premiums on a 30-year FHA loan must have been paid for at least 5 years by then. A 15-year FHA mortgage annual insurance premium will be cancelled at 78% loan-to-value ratio regardless of how long the premiums have been paid. The FHA’s 78% is based on the initial amortization schedule, and does not take any extra payments or new appraisals into account. This is the big difference between PMI and FHA insurance: the termination of FHA premiums can hardly be accelerated. Borrowers who do make additional payments towards an FHA mortgage principal, may take the initiative through their lender to have the insurance terminated using the 78% rule, but not sooner than after 5 years of regular payments for 30-year loans. PMI termination, however, can be accelerated through extra payments, a new appraisal if the house has appreciated in value, and businesslike attitude.

PMI on a conventional mortgage can be avoided; FHA-insurance is actually what makes an FHA mortgage an FHA mortgage, it is essential and cannot be avoided.

The short answer is none. I am serious. The thing is that the FHA does not lend you the money. The so-called FHA mortgages are in fact the FHA-insured mortgages. The FHA insures your mortgage to protect the lender in case you default on your payments. It is sort of like PMI, but the rules are different. The amount limitation referred to in the question applies to the amount you can borrow from an FHA-approved lender to have your mortgage insured by the FHA. The limits vary from location to location. On the official government page you can look up the FHA-insured mortgage limits for your destination area. Note, that the amount itself is not the only limitation or requirement.

It is certainly true, but

• not every FHA-insured borrower is eligible for this refund;
• even those who are, cannot get all the money paid as insurance premiums back

Normally, if you are eligible you receive a check or an application within 45 days after you paid off your loan. Your mortgage company sends HUD a request to terminate the mortgage insurance on your loan. You should receive the refund or some other documentation from HUD within 120 days after the date you mailed your application.

If none of that has happened to you, you may still be unawares entitled to the refund.

Eligibility.

Premium Refund: You may be eligible for a refund of a portion of the insurance premium if you:

• acquired your loan after September 1, 1983
• paid an up-front mortgage insurance premium at closing and
• did not default on your mortgage payments

NB Review your settlement papers or check with your mortgage company to determine if you paid an up-front premium.

Distributive Share:

You may be eligible for a share of any excess earnings from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund if you:

• originated your loan before September 1, 1983
• paid on your loan for more than seven years and
• had your FHA insurance terminated before November 5, 1990.

The indications above are just the canvas. There are exceptions and other qualifications involved. You can read the complete information on the official FHA web-page. The easier way to find out if you are eligible is to go directly to this page. All this information can be acquired for free! You do not need to pay any third parties to have it done for you. There have appeared companies eager to make money out of people’s innocent ignorance in certain matters. The FHA explicitly alerts the borrowers against the scam.

And remember: HUD says that approximately 30 percent of those refunds never get claimed. Don’t miss your chance – there is about half a million bucks in the treasury waiting to be claimed!