Articles Tagged With: HUD

October 6, 2021

Federal Disaster Relief For FHA Borrowers In Montana, New Hampshire

The 2021 disaster season has seen a large number of federal disaster area declarations; that combined with a global pandemic and it’s easy to see that mortgage relief in any form is a much-needed thing. In October 2021, the FHA and HUD announced foreclosure relief in areas of New Hampshire and Montana affected by natural disasters. In New Hampshire, those areas included the counties of Cheshire and Sullivan which were harmed by severe storms and floods. In Montana, areas affected by something known as the Richard Spring Fire received a major disaster declaration for Rosebud County and the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. In declaring these areas as federal disaster areas, HUD is able to offer foreclosure relief in those areas–a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-insured mortgages starting on the | more...

September 28, 2021

FHA And HUD Announce New Foreclosure Relief Measures For Those Recently Affected By COVID-19

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced new COVID-19 relief measures for those with FHA mortgages. This news comes on the heels of a previously issued FHA Mortgagee letter, ML2021-19, “Extension of the Foreclosure-Related Eviction Moratorium and Expiration of the Foreclosure Moratorium in Connection with the Presidentially-Declared COVID-19 National Emergency” which contained the following statement: “HUD’s foreclosure moratorium is set to expire on July 31, 2021, and HUD is not extending that moratorium further”. That statement is true for many; the FHA and HUD have added more help but it is intended for those who have experienced recent financial difficulty because of COVID-19. For those who have already taken advantage of this help, the loan forbearance offered borrowers a chance to save their homes even during the prolonged | 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...

FHA Fixed-Rate Mortgages Versus Adjustable Rate Mortgages

June 30, 2021

The End Of National Homeownership Month

By Joe Wallace

The month of June is National Homeownership Month, and now that the month is over, the FHA and HUD are reminding potential FHA borrowers about government initiatives to encourage homeownership, prevent discrimination, and enable first-time homebuyers to consider purchasing a new house. The HUD official site announced at the end of June that there are more initiatives coming to improve free access to housing and further prosecute violations of the Fair Housing Act. According to a press release on HUD.gov, this process began in the first days of the Biden Administration with the newly-sworn-in President of the United States issuing a memorandum to the Department of Housing and Urban Development “to address discrimination in our housing market”. Since those earliest days, HUD has issued a proposed rule “on countering housing | more...

June 18, 2021

Changes To FHA Home Loan Policy: Student Loan Debt

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development official site has published a press release announcing an important revision to FHA Single-Family home loan guidelines in HUD 4000.1 concerning how a participating FHA lender should consider student loan debt as part of the loan approval process. Before the publication of HUD 4000.1, the FHA Single-Family Loan program handbook, FHA loan rules “did not address how Mortgagees should calculate future payments of deferred student loan debt which, once due, could negatively impact a Borrower’s long-term ability to repay their Mortgage and other monthly obligations” according to the HUD press release. What’s more, FHA loan rules did not consider deferred and non-deferred student loan debt separately. When HUD 4000.1 was published to replace HUD 4155, FHA loan rules were modified to require a | more...

June 16, 2021

HUD Charges Niagra Falls Landlord With Fair Housing Act Violations

By Bruce Reichstein

Housing discrimination at any stage of the process has negative effects on the entire industry. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to purchase or rent. It doesn’t matter if you are a single borrower, or seek housing on behalf of a family, everyone is entitled to fair access to housing according to federal law. Some Fair Housing rights are better understood than others. Most people understand that it is illegal for a landlord, lender, seller, or housing services provider to discriminate against you for your national origin, religion, race, family status, or other non-financial reasons. But did you know that the same is true for having or needing a service animal? Anyone denied housing for having or needing a service animal has experienced a violation of Fair Housing laws. | more...

Credit Requirements For Your FHA Home Loan In 2020

June 7, 2021

FHA/HUD Near Current Deadlines For Ending COVID “Flexibilities”

By Bruce Reichstein

On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not long after, the FHA and HUD published details of altered FHA loan procedures designed to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. These altered procedures included modified employment verification, appraisal processes, and appraisal protocols such as exterior-only options. The HUD guidelines for these modified policies were intended to address the specific needs and risks associated with in-person requirements during COVID. Some of the temporary policies were allowed to expire but then got reinstated. Others simply had their deadlines extended. In January of 2021, President Joseph R. Biden announced a plan called the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, and in response, temporary FHA and HUD policies were | more...

June 2, 2021

HUD Revises FHA Loan Citizenship Rules

By Bruce Reichstein

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a press release which announces important changes to the way participating FHA lenders process home loan applications completed by those who are in the United States but are not American citizens. The policies changed are those that allow a lender to approve FHA home loans for those in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security issued a policy for those who entered the United States as minors, and who meet “certain additional guidelines” — these applicants are eligible to request “deferred action from prosecution for removal” from the United States for two years, subject to renewal. This technically makes those eligible under DACA to work legally in the United | more...

June 1, 2021

HUD Announces Resolution To Fair Housing Act Case In California

By Bruce Reichstein

There are plenty of headlines related to violations of the Fair Housing Act. We report on Fair Housing violations partly to remind borrowers to know their rights, but also to encourage anyone who has been the victim of violation of federal Fair Housing laws to report them to HUD. Discrimination in the housing process creates undue burdens on all house hunters. It does not matter what kind of housing you seek, whether or not you are in the house hunting phase or the home loan application phase, etc. Even in cases where the violations occur in relation to rental properties, discrimination hurts the entire industry. In a 2021 Fair Housing discrimination case, HUD has announced a Conciliation/Voluntary Compliance Agreement with Cascade Village Apartments II in Sacramento, California. This agreement includes | more...

May 21, 2021

HUD Announces Discrimination Settlement In Puerto Rico

By Joe Wallace

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) to settle housing discrimination complaints over accessibility in federally-funded housing. A press release on the HUD official site says the agency had investigated allegations of discrimination and a lack of accessible facilities with the Rio Plata Housing Development and the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority (PRHFA). The agreement “leverages a federal $2.5 million PRHFA-awarded Housing Trust Fund grant to bring the Rio Plata Housing Development into compliance with federal accessibility requirements” according to the HUD official site. This case was the result of accusations of housing discrimination and inaccessible housing–conditions that resulted in at least one resident unable to use a bedroom or bathroom in her home for years due to a mobility issue. PRFHA had | more...