The Federal Housing Administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency and other federal housing agencies have released a list of the various forms of assistance available to homeowners and renters in Hawaii following the Maui wildfires.
The Federal Housing Administration proposed making permanent a pandemic-related rule that waives the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s requirement for mortgagees to meet in person with borrowers who are in default on their mortgage payments.
ABA, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Mortgage Servicing Association cautioned the Federal Housing Administration that a proposed payment supplemental partial claim option “would significantly increase the operational, compliance, liquidity and reputational risk for mortgage servicers, while introducing potential harm to borrowers.”
The Federal Housing Administration announced that it will require lenders to submit information about borrowers’ preferred language and any housing education they have received when originating mortgages for FHA insurance.
FHA is seeking feedback on a proposal to allow mortgage servicers to use the FHA Partial Claim to both bring a borrower’s mortgage current and provide temporary reductions for monthly mortgage payments for up to five years.
The rule allows increasing the maximum term of a loan modification from 360 to 480 months for FHA-insured mortgages after a default episode.
This draft also proposes updated appraisal review standards intended to provide mortgagees and appraisers with clarifying guidance regarding the quality of an appraisal report.
In its new policy, FHA considers positive rental payment history as the on-time payment of all rental payments in the previous 12 months.
By significantly lowering the monthly payments for the borrower, more homeowners would have the ability to retain their homes after default following periods of hardship.
The Federal Housing Administration added a 40-year mortgage modification option to assist borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments for FHA Title II forward mortgages, and hopes to make it permanent.