Articles in Category: FHA Disaster Assistance

February 25, 2021

HUD Announces Further Modifications Of Home Loan Policy During COVID-19

The pandemic has forced many business owners, consumers, house hunters, and home sellers to rethink their approach to the task at hand. The FHA and HUD have modified many FHA loan rules to accommodate the need to socially distance and implement other coronavirus mitigation procedures and prevent the spread of the virus. And in 2021, those modifications must continue. On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, the HUD official site announced extensions of already-modified Single Family mortgage loan policies–modifications that would allow the FHA to help “maintain new mortgage originations for homebuyers and allow 203(k) rehabilitation projects to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Extending these policies insures continued flexibility in certain guidelines for single family home loans. Why is it needed? To ensure home loans are available via the FHA program for | more...

HUD Announces Fair Housing Act Protection Improvements

February 22, 2021

Texas Home Owners Get Federal Disaster Relief

By Bruce Reichstein

Millions of homeowners in Texas were affected by severe winter weather and unprecedented freezing conditions there; On Monday, February 22, 2021 Texas residents woke up having had their state declared a federal disaster area. Those with FHA mortgages who own homes in the state of Texas are getting help from the federal government in the wake of deadly winter storms in the area affecting some half a million homeowners in the Lone Star State. President Biden has declared the state of Texas as a federal disaster area, and that means federal assistance for state and local recovery efforts. It also means Texas homeowners have access to disaster relief to help repair or replace homes damaged by the winter weather there. Do you have an FHA home loan? Contact your loan | more...

HUD Announces Changes To Exterior-Only Appraisal Guidelines For FHA Purchase Loans

January 25, 2021

HUD Announces Extension Of FHA Loan Foreclosure / Eviction Moratorium

By Bruce Reichstein

A press release at the official site for the Department of Housing and Urban Development announces that the Biden Administration has “requested the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other Federal Agencies” extend the current COVID-related foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. This request also affects loans guaranteed by the Office of Native American Programs’ Section 184 and 184A loan guarantee programs. At press time, and according to the press release, the moratorium is extended through March 31, 2021. The press release on the HUD official site states that this extension is, “one of the first Administration actions” that addresses the need for “meaningful support” to homeowners struggling with financial difficulty during the pandemic. “As President Biden promised, his new | more...

December 22, 2020

FHA Mortgage Relief Extended Into 2021

By Joe Wallace

Millions of homeowners with FHA mortgages in need of mortgage relief during the coronavirus pandemic are getting an extension on their options to avoid foreclosure. That is thanks to a recent move by the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the agency has announced an extension to coronavirus relief measures intended to help borrowers financially affected by COVID-19. FHA and HUD official sites announced this week that they have approved a two-month extension to the COVID-19 related foreclosure and eviction moratorium. The new expiration date for the moratorium is listed as February 28, 2021. There is now more time for FHA borrowers to request what the FHA calls an “initial COVID-19 forbearance” which must be obtained from the borrower’s mortgage servicer. This forbearance is meant to “defer or reduce” FHA | more...

October 20, 2020

HUD Announces New Deadlines For Coronavirus Foreclosure Avoidance Options

By Bruce Reichstein

Since the global coronavirus pandemic began affecting the United States economy, HUD has made a variety of policy changes and loss mitigation measures available to borrower struggling to make mortgage payments on FHA mortgages, refinance loans, and even reverse mortgages. In April, 2020, HUD published Mortgagee Letter 2020-06. That letter announced measures including COVID-19 related loan forbearance, plus “Standalone Partial Claims”, plus an extension of the deadline for FHA Reverse Mortgages (also known as FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgages or HECM) for those affected by the pandemic. A few months later, HUD also announced loan forbearance options for those who needed it beyond the initial forbearance period. And now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration have announced that the agencies recognize a need, “…to | more...

September 18, 2020

FHA And HUD Announce Mortgage Loan Disaster Relief For Borrowers In Oregon

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have announced disaster relief for home owners with FHA mortgages in the recently-declared federal disaster areas there. Wildfires have destroyed massive amounts of property in the state of Orgeon and other areas in the western part of the United States; affected states have been reviewed for federal disaster declarations as a result. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced disaster relief for FHA borrowers for the following Oregon counties. Clackamas Douglas Jackson Klamath, Lane Lincoln Linn Marion The federal disaster declaration means HUD can offer foreclosure relief to FHA borrowers. That relief starts with foreclosure relief in the form of a 90-day moratorium on foreclosure actions on affected borrowers, and there is also help with FHA loans to repair or replace homes damaged | more...

September 16, 2020

New FHA Home Loan Guidelines Announced

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have written permanent new COVID-19-related loan approval guidelines for those who need to apply for an FHA mortgage but come to the home loan application process with a previous mortgage forbearance. Ever since the coronavirus emergency came to the United States, the FHA and HUD have offered borrowers mortgage relief, and now that relief and measures similar to it won’t be a liability for those who need to apply for a new FHA mortgage. Other forms of coronavirus relief have been temporary but not this time. The new rules announced by the FHA are announced as a permanent modification to FHA loan rules that instruct the lender on how to approve new mortgage loan applications for borrowers who have applied for home loan forbearance in the | more...

September 3, 2020

HUD Announces Disaster Relief In The Wake Of Hurricane Laura

By Joe Wallace

On August 28, 2020, there was a federal major disaster declaration announced for the state of Louisiana; those living in the affected areas are eligible for federal disaster relief and other measures as announced (see below). The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development now offers federal disaster assistance there “to provide support to homeowners and low-income renters displaced from their homes in areas affected by Hurricane Laura.” The major disaster declaration is for the following parishes in Louisiana; Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis. The result of having these areas declared as federal disaster areas allows FHA foreclosure relief and other assistance to impacted families living in these counties to include immediate foreclosure relief in the form of a 90-day moratorium on foreclosing upon any FHA mortgage. For | more...

August 31, 2020

HUD Extends COVID-19 Foreclosure Moratorium For A Third Time

By Bruce Reichstein

The FHA and HUD have announced a third extension of the coronavirus foreclosure and eviction moratorium announced earlier this year to help homeowners affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. This extension is extended until the end of 2020 and is intended to help those with FHA mortgages “focus on financial recovery”. The original measures were passed as part of the Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. According to a press release issued by the FHA and HUD, “This extension provides an additional four months of housing security to homeowners, as they will not fear losing their homes as they work to recover financially from the adverse impacts of the pandemic. “ HUD officials went on the record about this extension stating that, “…homeownership | more...

August 26, 2020

FHA Home Loan Advice For Disaster Victims

By Bruce Reichstein

At the time of this writing, multiple natural disasters are affecting homeowners from California to the Gulf Coast. This, in addition to COVID-19 concerns makes for a lot of hardship for those who have had to evacuate, and for those who have experienced damaged homes and lost property. The FHA and HUD have specific disaster-relief policies on the books that are intended to help those affected by natural disasters recover from them. FHA loan rules include limited foreclosure moratorium procedures for borrowers, and there is help in the form of FHA rehabilitation loans specifically for disaster victims. However, this relief is provided to those who reside in areas that have been declared as federal disaster areas. The President must make such a declaration (such as the one made in California | more...