Previously, DE underwriters were approved by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). However, as of February 26, 1996 (see Mortgagee Letter 96-10), the FHA no longer approves individual underwriters. Underwriters are employed by the lender, and it is the lender's responsibility to ensure that the DE underwriters employed by them meet or exceed HUD's requirements. The lender must register employed DE underwriters with the FHA using the Underwriter Registry in the FHA Connection.

Underwriter information is recorded in the National Underwriter File maintained in CHUMS. Once the underwriter information is entered and there are no detected errors, the individual is issued an underwriter identification number by the FHA. This FHA-assigned number stays associated with the individual throughout their tenure as a DE underwriter, no matter what lender is his/her employer. FHA reserves the right to remove underwriters from the registry upon imposition of sanctions.

You can access the Underwriter Registry through the following sequence of FHA Connection links: Single Family FHA, Single Family Origination, FHA Approval Lists, and Underwriter Registry.

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See Also

Underwriter Registry - Processing

Underwriter Registry - Field Description

Underwriter Registry Results Page - Field Descriptions

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