Articles in Category: HUD Regulations

October 18, 2021

HUD Announces Settlement In Alabama Fair Housing Case

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced an agreement with the owners of the HUD-supported Hollyhand Companies, Inc., and The Village at Meadowview in Fairhope, Alabama. This announcement settles a Fair Housing discrimination case involving a policy barring visitors of a certain age due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The details of this Fair Housing Act complaint involve a resident filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging the tenant could no longer care for her grandchildren in the home because doing so allegedly violated the “no visitors under 12” policy. The HUD official site states that as a result of the resident’s complaint, the agency “…engaged in a compliance review to assess whether the owners had adopted an impermissible age distinction in their | more...

September 20, 2021

HUD Announces Fair Housing Discrimination Case In Missouri

By Joe Wallace

If you have ever experienced discrimination while looking for a place to rent or buy as your primary residence, the Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to hear from you. Know your Fair Housing rights–you might not know when you’ll need to use them. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is bringing charges of housing discrimination against conservators of the Felder Peter King Estate of Ward Protectee, the Estate, and the owners and property manager of duplex and triplex apartments in St. Charles, Missouri. The charges involve alleged housing discrimination “for allegedly refusing to rent an apartment to a prospective tenant because he has two children” Fair Housing Act laws do not permit landlords to deny applicants housing on the basis of family status including | more...

September 15, 2021

How To Avoid A Mortgage Closing Scam

By Joe Wallace

The government’s consumer watchdog agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has a page dedicated to warning house hunters about home loan closing scams. According to CFPB documents,FBI warnings about home scams include attempts to “phish” your personal information with the purpose of tricking a potential borrower into diverting the payment of closing costs and down payment to a destination that is NOT your lender. In a single year alone, these mortgage closing scams cost almost one billion dollars. Want to know how you can keep this from happening to you? Scammers trying to pull these types of phishing attacks target people in the mortgage industry–they find legitimate email addresses and “spoof” them, making the email appear to be from a real address. But the email is full of hacking | more...

September 7, 2021

HUD Charges Florida Condo Owner’s Association With Fair Housing Act Violations

By Joe Wallace

There are many different forms of housing discrimination and such violations of federal law can happen at any stage of the housing process. That means you can find examples of violations of the Fair Housing Act in many other places besides the rental application process, the home loan application process, or even the refinance loan system. Did you know that housing discrimination cases are also found in areas such as the decisions of homeowner’s associations? That’s an area that doesn’t get discussed much in home loan circles, but violations of the Fair Housing Act have disastrous effects for those who seek housing. One good example of this is found in a September 2021 press release at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s official site announcing charges against a condo | more...

August 31, 2021

The Final Month Of The COVID-19 FHA Foreclosure Eviction Moratorium

By Joe Wallace

September 1, 2021 marks the start of a countdown–the final days of the FHA foreclosure eviction moratorium issued to help FHA borrowers avoid loan default and foreclosure during the economic hardship of the global COVID-19 pandemic. There were two FHA-wide orders during the pandemic. One was a prohibition on foreclosures on homes securing an FHA mortgage, and the other was a moratorium on foreclosure-related eviction for those with FHA mortgages who were in the foreclosure process when the pandemic hit. The moratorium on FHA foreclosures ended in July 2021, but the foreclosure eviction ban was extended until the end of September 2021. On July 30, 2021, the FHA and HUD issued an announcement stating as such, which included the following: “Foreclosure-related evictions of persons from properties that were secured by | more...

August 19, 2021

Time Is Running Out On The HUD Foreclosure Eviction Moratorium

By Joe Wallace

The end of the HUD foreclosure moratorium was announced earlier this year–the end date of the moratorium is listed as July 31, 2021. That date is firm, at least according to the most recent FHA Mortgagee Letter published on this issue, which mentions, “foreclosures of FHA-insured mortgages may be initiated or resumed upon the expiration of the foreclosure moratorium in accordance with FHA requirements.” The July 31st deadline is, at this time, not expected to be extended further. However, there is also a moratorium on foreclosure-related evictions for FHA borrowers who are in default on their mortgages. That eviction moratorium has been extended until September. HUD instructions to participating FHA lenders is clear. The Mortgagee Letter on the FHA/HUD official sites includes these guidelines: “A Mortgagee must not initiate or | more...

August 9, 2021

Do You Need Help Saving Your FHA Mortgage?

By Joe Wallace

Do you worry about your ability to make payments on your FHA home loan? You are not alone, and the FHA and HUD want to help. There have been many foreclosure prevention measures taken by lenders and the FHA/HUD alike including a COVID-19 related foreclosure moratorium, loan modification options for qualifying applicants and much more. In early 2021, the FHA and HUD announced “loss mitigation options” to help those recovering financially from the pandemic; these included a COVID-19 Advance Loan Modification offered to “…eligible delinquent Borrowers who can achieve a 25 percent reduction to the Principal and Interest (P&I) portion of the Borrower’s monthly mortgage payment through a 30-year rate and term loan modification” according to HUD.gov The FHA and HUD continue evaluating how the pandemic has affected the agency’s | more...

August 4, 2021

HUD Announces Extension To Foreclosure And Eviction Moratorium

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD are extending a moratorium on foreclosure-related evictions in a last-minute bid to protect FHA borrowers from losing their homes after the expiration of a previous eviction and foreclosure moratorium. The HUD official site states that on July 30, 2021, FHA foreclosure and eviction procedures will still be on hold; the agency is extending its moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until September 30, 2021. The previous deadline was at one time “set in stone” and HUD had previously announced there would be no further extensions. But public outcry over the expiration of a rental eviction moratorium gave the Biden administration pause; soon there were extensions on the foreclosure and eviction moratorium for those who bought homes with government-backed programs like FHA single-family home loans. In a press | more...

Four Things to Remember About Home Loans and Credit Scores

July 30, 2021

What You Need To Know About FHA Home Loan Credit Checks

By Joe Wallace

What do first-time home buyers need to understand about the credit check process for getting an FHA mortgage? There are many variables but one thing you can do to get a better understanding of what it takes to be approved for a loan is to start trying to think like a loan officer–their job depends on making sure that you are a good credit risk. How can you help the lender help you? What you don’t know can hurt you in the journey toward buying that first piece of real estate. Before you begin working with a realtor, you should know several things about the credit check process. Credit is a major part of home loan approval and you want to be able to convince your lender you are ready | more...

July 26, 2021

FHA And HUD Announce Streamlined Foreclosure Relief

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have announced mortgage relief streamlined for those who need assistance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with FHA mortgages have a new “FHA COVID-19 Recovery waterfall” which “streamlines and revises FHA’s previous options for struggling homeowners, reduces required documentation, and allows mortgage servicers to provide greater payment reduction for eligible homeowners with FHA-insured Single Family Title II forward mortgages” according to the HUD official site. “This next step in the evolution of FHA’s COVID-19 response is a significant and meaningful way to help those homeowners who will be at a critical point in their recovery in the coming months and transitioning out of forbearance to permanent sustainable payments,” which are the words of FHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lopa Kolluri, who was quoted in | more...