The Federal Housing Administration is making it harder rather than easier for banks to make FHA-insured loans, and the agency is pushing banks to buy back loans that have soured.

Housing Wire reported that the FHA announced the final rules Friday.  The agency said they would be published in the Federal Register soon and would take effect 30 days after that.

The FHA's spin on the action is that the changes, which Acting Commissioner Carol J. Galante announced, were "the latest in a series of steps to protect and strengthen the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund."

Banks have no choice in going along with the standards if they want to make FHA-insured mortgages.

"The final rule requires all lenders with the authority to insure mortgages on HUD’s behalf ... to meet stricter performance standards to gain and maintain their approval status," the FHA said.

At the same time, FHA is going to be tougher about making banks buy back FHA-insured mortgages that the FHA determines they should not have made.

Going forward, lenders "must demonstrate a two-year seriously delinquent and claim rate at or below 150 percent of the aggregate rate for the states in which the lender does business," the new standards say.