February 14, 2015
The FHA and HUD have issued a Mortgagee Letter updating housing counseling requirements for borrowers who may face delinquency on an FHA home loan. According to FHA Mortgagee Letter 2015-4, ‘Revised Notification to Homeowners of Availability of Housing Counseling Services”, there is updated content and, “a model template for the notice of the availability of HUD-approved housing counseling.”
“The ‘Notification to Homeowners of Availability of Housing Counseling Services’ provides a description of the potential services and benefits of housing counseling to delinquent borrowers.”
According to the mortgagee letter, lenders must provide delinquent borrowers, “with a notice describing the availability of housing counseling offered by HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and by the mortgagee.”
According to the FHA official site, lenders are “currently required to prepare such a notice that provides the information required by FHA. To increase the effectiveness of this notice, FHA has prepared a model template of the notice that is user-friendly and designed to ensure borrowers understand how housing counselors can assist them.”
This can be very important for an FHA borrower in trouble on an FHA home loan or refinance loan. The housing counseling available may be in languages other than English for borrowers where that is a concern. There may also be information available in formats needed by those with disabilities. For more information on these services, speak to your lender or contact the FHA directly by calling 1-800 CALL FHA.
Do you have questions about FHA home loans? Ask us in the comments section.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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