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Primary sources
Two of these are drafts. The Section 232 Chapter 3 redline and the February 2026 MAP Guide draft letter are proposals posted for comment, not operative guidance. They are listed here because they matter for 2027 planning, and flagged because a draft cited as current is worse than no citation at all.
Mortgagee Letter 2025-03 — DSCR and LTV/LTC requirements for 221(d)(4) and 223(f)
January 8, 2025. Raised market-rate 223(f) to 87% LTV and 1.15x DSCR and the affordable tier to 90% and 1.11x. Expressly does not change the cash-out LTV under Criterion 10, and expressly does not apply to Section 232, to refinancing of Section 232 loans, or to Section 542 Risk-Share.
Open the document →Mortgage Insurance Premiums for Multifamily Housing Programs — FR-6522-N-02, 90 FR 45789
September 23, 2025. Set a uniform 0.25% upfront and 0.25% annual MIP across the multifamily programs listed in its table, for applications submitted or amended on or after October 1, 2025 that have not been initially endorsed. Eliminated the Broadly Affordable, Affordable-Inclusionary-Voucher and Green categories. Section 232 and Section 242 do not appear in the notice.
Open the document →Mortgage insurance premiums, health care facilities and hospitals
June 26, 2025. Carried forward the Section 232 premium schedule — 232/223(f) at 100 basis points upfront and 65 annual, 232/223(a)(7) at 50 and 55, 232 new construction and substantial rehabilitation at 77 and 77, 241(a) at 72 and 72, and 242 hospitals at 70 and 70 — and eliminated the Green and Energy Efficient MIP Initiative for all applicable 232 programs for applications received on or after August 25, 2025.
Open the document →Mortgagee Letter 2026-05 — statutory limits and high-cost percentages
May 20, 2026, effective January 1, 2026. Sets the substantial rehabilitation threshold at a $20,406 per-unit base and the high-cost percentages: up to 170% increase in standard areas, up to 215% in designated High Cost Areas, capped at 405% for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Open the document →Mortgagee Letter 20-03 — revisions to the Section 223(f) three-year rule
March 2, 2020. Removed the mandatory three-year wait. A recently completed property may qualify at 1.17x DSCR market-rate or 1.11x broadly affordable over three consecutive months pre-endorsement, with 50% of cash-out held back until a six-month coverage test is met. Multifamily only.
Open the document →MAP Guide — Handbook 4430.G
2020 edition, revised March 19, 2021. The operative guidance for FHA multifamily programs. Mortgagee letters modify it between editions, which is why current terms cannot be read from the Guide text alone.
Open the document →Section 232 Handbook — 4232.1
The operative guidance for FHA healthcare programs, administered by the Office of Healthcare Programs under the LEAN protocol. Section II Chapter 3 governs loan sizing; §3.13 contains the equity-takeout prohibition and the debt seasoning requirements.
Open the document →Section 232 Handbook, Chapter 3 loan sizing — Rev-2 redline (DRAFT)
A redline posted for voluntary industry feedback. Not operative guidance. Some table rows in the posted document contain overlapping text; figures should be confirmed against the operative handbook.
Open the document →Draft mortgagee letter revising the MAP Guide — HUD drafting table (DRAFT)
Posted February 26, 2026; comments closed March 2026. Would introduce a 95% economic occupancy standard for qualifying 223(f) transactions, cap cash-out holdbacks at $1 million, extend Firm Commitment validity from 60 to 90 days, allow a mortgageable contingency, eliminate the CPA review requirement, and eliminate the large-loan segment. Not effective; do not cite as current.
Open the document →HUD mortgagee letters — numbered list
The authoritative index of issued letters. Note that many numbered letters are single-family only and do not apply to multifamily or healthcare at all — a frequent source of confusion. The 2026 multifamily letters are 2026-01, 2026-04 and 2026-05.
Open the document →How to check a figure yourself
Program terms frequently live in mortgagee letters that modify the handbooks, so reading the MAP Guide or Handbook 4232.1 alone will not tell you the current rule. The reliable sequence is: find the handbook provision, then check the numbered mortgagee letter list for anything later that modifies it, then check the Federal Register for premium notices, then check the drafting table to see what may be coming. Confirm that any letter you rely on is a multifamily or healthcare letter rather than a single-family one.
If you find something on this site that has gone stale against one of these documents, please tell us.