Articles in Category: HUD Regulations

February 18, 2021

HUD Further Extends COVID-19 Foreclosure Relief

The FHA and HUD have announced new modifications to coronavirus relief options for FHA borrowers in need of foreclosure avoidance help during the pandemic. Effective immediately, HUD has implemented a variety of modifications: Extended foreclosure and eviction moratoriums now expire June 30, 2021; Deadline for “first legal action” and “Reasonable Diligence Time Frame” is extended to 180 days; COVID-19 Forbearance start dates are now extended to June 30, 2021; HECM extension period is extended to June 30, 2021; HUD now offers up to two additional three-month COVID-19 Forbearance periods or HECM extension periods “for certain Borrowers”; HUD now allows additional Borrowers, “regardless of delinquency status or participation on a COVID-19 Forbearance” to apply for FHA’s COVID-19 Loss Mitigation Options; HUD has removed the restriction on “Borrowers receiving more than one | more...

February 11, 2021

HUD Announces Fair Housing Act Protection Improvements

By Joe Wallace

There is good news from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the agency has announced it plans to “administer and enforce the Fair Housing Act” with an eye toward eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the earliest weeks of the Biden administration, the HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) issued a memorandum indicating that HUD will interpret the Fair Housing Act “to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and directing HUD offices and recipients of HUD funds to enforce the Act accordingly.” This comes on the heels of the President’s executive order 13988, “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” requiring executive branch agencies to examine further steps that could be | more...

February 10, 2021

HUD Brings Fair Housing Charges In Missouri

By Bruce Reichstein

Have you ever been the victim of housing discrimination? In spite of the federal laws designed to stop it, cases still occur in America. And sometimes only the victim of the discrimination has the power to stop to perpetrator from future abuses. If you don’t report the illegal activity, it can happen to someone else. Housing discrimination creates terrible conditions for anyone who wants to buy a new home. And this discrimination’s negative effects don’t stay neatly contained to the sector where the abuses occur, either. Housing discrimination in the rental sector can negatively affect a house hunter’s ability to find housing at a reasonable price. It is sometimes necessary to rent a home while looking for a home to purchase. The damage housing discrimination does at the rental stage | more...

February 8, 2021

FHA Refinance Loan Options: Why You Should Consider A Streamline Refinance

By Joe Wallace

Do you need to consider refinancing your current FHA home loan? Interest rates are still very low in the earliest weeks of 2021 and while there is no guarantee mortgage rates will remain quite this low for the duration of the year, now is a great time to consider your options for a lower mortgage payment via an FHA Streamline Refinance loan. Interest rates in the opening weeks of 2021 are still at the time of this writing below the three percent line for 30-year fixed rate government-backed mortgages such as FHA loans. A mortgage industry company, Black Knight, has issued a report that noting that at the end of January 2021 there were some 45 thousand people exiting home loan forbearance programs and another nearly 50 thousand loan forbearance | more...

February 4, 2021

FHA And HUD Announce More COVD-19 Relief Measures

By Joe Wallace

In the earliest weeks of the Biden Administration, the federal government has taken decisive steps to further address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest of these measures is designed to reduce the need for in-person loan servicing in certain areas and also to give more time to home owners who may need to request help with their home loans. The latest waivers allow mortgage services to continue “in a manner that allows for safe social distancing to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic” according to the FHA press release. The waivers address aspects of any home loan in some cases, but are specifically aimed at certain types of loans in others. HECM borrowers will find the latest waivers help them in particular. “President Biden has made it clear | more...

January 12, 2021

What Affects My FHA Loan Approval? Debt Ratio Issues

By Bruce Reichstein

Every mortgage or finance blog includes a lot of writing and advice about the need to monitor your credit reports. And make no mistake, this is important advice that is good to follow, but if you are in the market for a new home in 2021 the amount of monthly debt you have compared to your monthly income will be just as important for loan approval. Why Your Debt Matters Some applications crunch the numbers and believe they can afford the loan on paper. But what happens when that does not match what the lender gets when she runs your debt ratio numbers? People who technically qualify on paper but not in reality are bad risks for the lender and their jobs depend on screening out those bad risks. And | more...

December 16, 2020

FHA Construction Loan Rule Changes In 2021

By Joe Wallace

The FHA One-Time Close construction loan, also known as a construction-to-permanent mortgage or simply as a home construction loan, is an option for home buyers who want to build a home from the ground up. There are USDA versions of this type of loan (with income caps and other need-based restrictions), there’s a VA One-Time Close loan for qualifying military personnel, and there is also the FHA One-Time Close construction loan which features a low 3.5% down payment the same as all other FHA purchase loan options. The FHA and HUD have announced changes to the FHA One-Time Close program in 2021. These changes will formalize certain elements of the program, and change others as we’ll see below. HUD has changed its maximum financing policy and other requirements for New | more...

November 11, 2020

Happy Veterans Day 2020

By Bruce Reichstein

Happy Veterans Day! Many banks will be closed to observe this federal holiday, bond markets are closed, and we pause in our usual routine of discussing home loan issues and answering questions about FHA home loans to honor our veterans. Thank a veteran for her service, and remember the sacrifices all our troops have made no matter where in the world they may be stationed. To all current and former members of the U.S. military, THANK YOU for your service! Our regular posting schedule resumes tomorrow.

November 5, 2020

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Trends

By Joe Wallace

FHA mortgage loan rates have had a wild ride in 2020, and that is likely not over headed into the November and December holiday seasons. The 52-week average for government-backed mortgage loan interest rates has a bottom at 2.25%, which is significant since mortgage loan rates had, until this year, rarely seen territory below the three percent range. And the upper end of the 52-week average at the time of this writing is four percent–that should give you a good idea of how rates have fluctuated in the last 12 months. There is still plenty of uncertainty over which way rates might trend into the new year after the election season, continued issues with COVID-19, etc. At the time of this writing, the best-execution FHA mortgage rates (assuming ideal conditions) | more...

October 26, 2020

Warning Signs Of Foreclosure Relief Scams

By Joe Wallace

Foreclosure scams are very much on the rise in an era where more borrowers than ever need some form of foreclosure prevention, mortgage relief, or other options to save their homes during times of financial uncertainty. Fortunately, many of these scams have some tell-tale warning signs you can use to avoid getting conned. The federal government warns consumers to watch out for the indicators that a scammer is at work instead of a legitimate offer of help. The Federal Trade Commission warns home owners to stay vigilant, especially when the following signs are present from any business which: offers to provide the homeowner with a loan modification regardless of circumstances; tries to get you to do an end-run around your current lender and asks you not to contact the lender, | more...