In an official letter to lenderspdf, HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Commissioner Carol Galante has advised of possible FHA mortgage processing delays due to the sequestration of 2013 funding which began March 1.
The delays would result from likely furloughs of federal workers resulting from roughly five percent cuts in agency budgets. It is estimated that FHA workers could be furloughed for several days between now and the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30. The Rural Housing Loan program faces the same pressures. All VA programs are exempted from the automatic cuts.
All government agencies are also under the threat of a government-wide shutdown if the current stopgap funding measure is not extended past March 27. Though most observers expect the temporary funding to be extended, a government shutdown would have an immediate impact on FHA, Rural Housing and VA loans.