Articles Tagged With: HUD News

February 2, 2022

HUD Announces More Funding For Areas Hit By Natural Disasters

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been very busy in 2021 and 2022 responding to natural disasters and announcing the latest federal disaster assistance in areas hardest hit by storms, fires, flooding, and more. Homeowners in federally-declared disaster areas soon learn about the FHA’s foreclosure moratoriums and options for recovering damaged or destroyed homes using FHA 203(h) and FHA 203(k) Rehabilitation Loans (amongst multiple options). Now, HUD has announced further assistance for current and future disaster areas in the form of “Allocations for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery” plus the start of something called CDBG-DR Consolidated Waivers and Alternative Requirements Notice.” That notice is described by the HUD press release as being “ a critical step taken by the department to open access to more than $2 | more...

August 4, 2021

HUD Announces Extension To Foreclosure And Eviction Moratorium

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD are extending a moratorium on foreclosure-related evictions in a last-minute bid to protect FHA borrowers from losing their homes after the expiration of a previous eviction and foreclosure moratorium. The HUD official site states that on July 30, 2021, FHA foreclosure and eviction procedures will still be on hold; the agency is extending its moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until September 30, 2021. The previous deadline was at one time “set in stone” and HUD had previously announced there would be no further extensions. But public outcry over the expiration of a rental eviction moratorium gave the Biden administration pause; soon there were extensions on the foreclosure and eviction moratorium for those who bought homes with government-backed programs like FHA single-family home loans. In a press | 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...

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...

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...

May 3, 2021

HUD Announces Housing Discrimination Charges Against Redwood, California Mortgage Modification Company

By Bruce Reichstein

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced charges against a Redwood, California-based company called The House Lawyer (THL). HUD announced the charge against owners and employers of The House Lawyer in a press release on the HUD official site on April 30, 2021. HUD alleges The House Lawyer violated Fair Housing Act laws, “by targeting Hispanic homeowners with illegal and unfair mortgage modification services”. Among the issues in this Fair Housing Act case, HUD charges the company with collecting fees from Hispanic borrowers “for loan modification services prior to the completion of those services, in violation of California law, while encouraging them to withhold their mortgage payments, putting them at risk of foreclosure”. Fair Housing Act law forbids discrimination against people because of their national origin. That federal | more...

April 20, 2021

FHA Announces Revised Single Family Home Loan Policies

By Joe Wallace

Since the start of the pandemic and COVID-19 mitigation measures, American homeowners have felt the effects of job loss, layoffs, furloughs, and other hardships related to coronavirus quarantine issues. Many of those with FHA home loans, FHA refinances, and other loans have needed foreclosure avoidance measures due to this economic hardship brought. Fortunately agencies like the FHA and HUD implemented many things for homeowners with FHA mortgages. Now the FHA announces some changes to the basic structure of the single-family home loan program to help these homeowners stay in their homes. The FHA updated portions of its rulebook for single-family home loans; the changes will help lenders, “more quickly offer effective loss mitigation home retention options to borrowers in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure”. These policy changes are | more...

January 26, 2021

FHA Loans And DACA

By Joe Wallace

The FHA and HUD have made a major announcement; FHA home loans are now available for those who are not U.S. citizens but who are living in the country under the protection of a program called Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In 2012, President Barack Obama issued an executive order that basically replaced DACA legislation which had failed to pass in Congress. President Donald Trump attempted to overturn DACA protections but was rebuffed by the Supreme Court. Now, those living in the USA and protected under DACA laws have the ability to apply for an FHA home loan–something that wasn’t permitted in the past. Effective January 19, 2021, the FHA, “…is permitting individuals classified under the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” program (DACA) with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration | more...