On August 19, 2011, the FHA issued Mortgagee Letter 2011-29 that: 1. provides notice of FHA’s single family housing loan limits for Forward Mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) effective October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011; 2. provides loan limit instructions for FHA-insured to FHA-insured refinance transactions; and 3. provides eligibility criteria and instructions for pipeline loans that have not closed on or before September 30, 2011. ML 2011-29 is effective from October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011. However, if legislation is enacted to extend the current FHA-insured loan limits, which expire on September 30, 2011, FHA will publish a Mortgagee Letter that defines the most recent loan limits for both FHA-insured forward mortgages and HECMs. The information in ML 2011-29 is too extensive to adequately summarize in this memorandum. Therefore, we advise you to click on the below web address to print a copy of the letter:http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=11-29ml.pdf. For forward mortgages, the new loan limits announced in ML 2011-29 apply to FHA forward mortgage insurance programs except for the following forward mortgage transaction types, which may exceed the new loan limits: 1. Forward refinance transactions involving a refinance of an existing FHA-insured forward mortgage with a new FHA-insured forward mortgage. Loan limits for FHA-insured to FHA-insured refinances are addressed in the section of ML 2011-29 designated “FHA-Insured to FHA-Insured Refinances – May Exceed New Loan Limits.” 2. Loans in the pipeline that meet the credit approval criteria addressed in the section of ML 2011-29 designated “Definition of Credit Approval.” 3. Loans that have closed on or before September 30, 2011, but have not yet been endorsed for FHA-insurance.