FHA LOSSES AT $4.2 MILLION

The Federal Housing Administration, which has helped millions of Americans buy homes, is in the red for the first time in history and will need up to $5 billion from Congress over the next few years, federal auditors say. A record 203,000 FHA-backed mortgage foreclosures last year, combined with the bankruptcy of three big private companies that help insure FHA programs, account for most of a $4.2 billion one-year loss in the consolidated FHA insurance fund, the General Accounting Office reported to a Senate panel Wednesday.