Articles Tagged With: FHA Foreclosure

October 20, 2020

HUD Announces New Deadlines For Coronavirus Foreclosure Avoidance Options

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...

August 3, 2020

Time Is Running Out For FHA Mortgage Loan Relief

By Bruce Reichstein

Under the CARES Act passed in 2020 to help financially stricken Americans, all government-backed mortgages had foreclosure-avoidance measures instituted to protect homeowners from losing their homes during COVID-19. Those with VA, USDA, and FHA mortgages had all foreclosure actions suspended until the end of August 2020; the CARES Act forbids lenders and loan servicers “from beginning a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure against you, or from finalizing a foreclosure judgment or sale”. That foreclosure protection started March 18, 2020 but under the current version time is running out to act–these protections expire August 31, 2020. Those who have a financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, may request an FHA loan forbearance for up to 180 days and an extension for an additional 180 days is also offered. This is NOT | more...

July 17, 2020

FHA And HUD Propose Revised FHA Loan Guidelines

By Bruce Reichstein

The FHA and HUD have proposed an overhaul of its single-family mortgage loan program with an eye on “expediting homeowner assistance and achieving operational efficiencies” designed to lower the costs of servicing FHA mortgages. The FHA has proposed a set of policies that–while not currently adapted and are under a review and industry comment period–are designed to “remove unnecessary barriers for homeowners seeking mortgage payment relief,” according to an FHA press release as well as “achieve operational consistency with industry standard best practices”, details of which are listed below. These proposed alterations come at a time of increased uncertainty as coronavirus outbreaks have increased across a large number of states and the threat of extended or additional lockdown measures looking large. The FHA and HUD seek to improve the ability | more...

July 13, 2020

FHA and HUD Announce More Enhancements To COVID-19 Mortgage Relief

By Joe Wallace

The COVID-19 situation in America means dealing with an ever-changing environment created by coronavirus and its’ containment measures. Economic impact of the virus outbreak has forced millions of home owners to seek economic relief including mortgage loan forbearance. The First Round Of HUD Relief The FHA and HUD created an initial round of FHA mortgage loan forbearance for those experiencing a loss of income and/or having trouble making mortgage payments as a result of the pandemic. But the first announcement was followed by updates and refinements. And now there are further updates that can help borrowers keep their homes after an initial round of COVID-19 loan forbearance. FHA Mortgagee Letter 2020-22 announces improvements and the establishment of foreclosure avoidance possibilities the FHA is calling “Home Retention And Disposition options” including: | more...

July 9, 2020

FHA and HUD Announce Even More Home Loan Relief Options For Qualifying Home Owners

By Joe Wallace

Millions of home owners were affected by a loss of income and employment at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in America. And there was a lot of money on the table in the form of mortgage relief and stimulus payments, but what happens when the stimulus money is gone and the borrower gets to the end of a home loan forbearance period? The FHA and HUD have announced extended relief for FHA borrowers -relief specifically designed to help those who applied for FHA loan forbearance. A press release titled, “FHA Expands Home Retention Measures For Homeowners Financially Impacted By Covid-19” announces the measures, which are meant to help home owners bring their mortgage up to date at the end of the loan forbearance period. As of July 8, 2020, | more...

June 19, 2020

FHA And HUD Announce Extended Foreclosure Relief

By Joe Wallace

Are you a homeowner with an FHA loan worried about your mortgage during the coronavirus pandemic? If so, you aren’t alone. Coronavirus outbreak containment policies–lockdowns, quarantines, and other necessary measures, have brought with them economic hardship from many Americans; loss of income creates and questions about future earnings can result in late and missed mortgage payments, increasing the risk of foreclosure. But during the pandemic, federal relief measures were drafted to help–and the FHA/HUD is no exception, requiring participating lenders to delay initiating or continuing foreclosures during the crisis. Now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration have issued an extension (actually the second extension since the crisis began) of the foreclosure moratorium announced in March. The Old Deadline Wasn’t Sufficient The HUD official site | more...

June 4, 2020

Reverse Mortgage And Foreclosure Relief Scams: What You Need To Know

By Bruce Reichstein

Mortgage scams and reverse mortgage scams involve people coming to you with offers to save you from a pending foreclosure, or offer you a reverse mortgage to help cash in on the equity you have built up in the home. But scammers aren’t there to help, they are there to profit from your problems; fortunately, there are ways to tell if you are being scammed and stop a con game dead in its’ tracks. Advice About Scams From The U.S. Government The Department of Justice offers advice about scams–have you been contacted by third party agencies without having contacted them first? What should you do to prevent being taken advantage of if you need foreclosure relief, or need a home equity loan or reverse mortgage? The first step–identifying the biggest | more...

May 20, 2020

Mortgage Relief Scams To Avoid

By Joe Wallace

In an age where millions of Americans have applied for coronavirus-related mortgage relief, there are also con artists at work trying to steal money they haven’t earned from people who cannot afford to lose what money they have. What should you be aware of to avoid being conned while seeking home loan relief or foreclosure avoidance? Beware Mortgage Relief Scammers Some scammers just make random phone calls, hoping to strike gold. Others are far more careful and methodical. In those cases, mortgage relief scams often rely on a con artist viewing public records of homes that may be in the pre-foreclosure process, targeting these owners and hoping to take advantage. One of the hallmarks of a mortgage relief scam? The scammer comes in with promises to save the home outright, | more...

May 15, 2020

FHA Extends Coronavirus Policies

By Joe Wallace

The Federal Housing Administration has issued a press release announcing an extension to coronavirus-related mortgage relief for American borrowers with FHA home loans. One major feature of that extension? More time on the FHA eviction and foreclosure moratorium issued on FHA mortgages. That moratorium now lasts until June 30, 2020. This applies to homeowners with “FHA-insured Title II Single Family forward and Home Equity Conversion (reverse) mortgages” according to the HUD official site. Until these measures expire, FHA lenders are directed to: Halt all new foreclosure actions; Suspend all foreclosure actions currently in process, excluding legally vacant or abandoned properties; Cease all evictions from FHA-insured Single Family properties; This excludes actions “to evict occupants of legally vacant or abandoned properties”. Also extended? The length of time for FHA’s temporary policies | more...

May 6, 2020

Home Loan Forbearance Options

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you one of the many Americans in need of mortgage loan forbearance during COVID-19? There are many different types of mortgages; FHA, VA, USDA, conventional…the options available to you may vary depending on the type of mortgage you have, whether you are current on your home loan payments at the time you request the help, and other factors. If you need to apply for mortgage forbearance, it is important to know the range of choices open to you not just for the forbearance period itself, but also for repaying the money you don’t pay now if you are approved. Some loan forbearance options may allow you to choose to stop making payments for up to a full year and choose a method to repay the year’s worth of delayed | more...