CAIVRS may be accessed Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. US Eastern Standard Time. CAIVRS is not available on Federal holidays. Access to the system is during limited hours because it requires mainframe access.

FHA terminated telephone access to CAIVRS on October 1, 2008. Please read  FHA Mortgagee Letter 2008-18 published on 7/11/08 for more information. FHA will continue to offer access to CAIVRS for HUD approved lenders via FHAConnection. Participating agencies or authorized lending institutions can access CAIVRS via CAIVRS.

To learn more about CAIVRS:

• Frequently asked questions * Including guidance for Internet Access
• Under what legal authority is CAIVRS implemented? 

If you have a question or need further assistance, please email us.

CAIVRS was developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in June 1987 as a shared database of defaulted Federal debtors, and enables processors of applications for Federal credit benefit to identify individuals who are in default or have had claims paid on direct or guaranteed Federal loans, or are delinquent or other debts owed to Federal agencies.

 In 1989, the Office of Management and Budget set as a performance goal that certain program agencies and their authorized financial institutions should use CAIVRS to conduct prescreening to determine a loan applicant's credit status with the Federal Government. The purpose of this methodology would enable the program agencies to prescreen their borrowers and to broaden the Federal Government's base in determining an applicant's creditworthiness. Some non-tangible factors are:

• Verifying that loan applicants are not in default or delinquent on direct or guaranteed loans of participating Federal programs as required by
  OMB Circular A -129.
• Providing authorized users with a means to prescreen applicants for Federal credit benefit, to avoid extending benefits to individuals who are
  credit risks.
• Demonstrating to the public the Federal Government's commitment to collecting delinquent debt and the importance of meeting Federal
  obligations.