HUD Offers Grants to Fight Housing Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is awarding more than $28 million in grants to organizations in 33 states to help investigate allegations of housing discrimination and promote equal housing opportunities.
“Last year, HUD filed more Fair Housing Act charges than any year since 2002,” John Trasvina, HUD assistant secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity, said in a statement. “The Fair Housing Initiatives Program grantees play a vital role to enhance our civil rights law enforcement efforts.”
The grants will be available to use for investigating alleged housing discrimination and enforce the Fair Housing Act, as well as to educate the public and housing providers about their rights and obligations under fair housing laws.
Eighty-four housing organizations and non-profit agencies will receive funds. To view the list of agencies, visit www.hud.gov.
Source: “HUD Awards $28 Million in Grants to Combat Housing Discrimination,” HUD (Oct. 6, 2011)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
HUD Wants Housing Counseling Funds Back
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is asking Congress to restore funding for its housing counseling program, which it says is “important to the recovery and stability of our housing markets.”
The program faced major cuts in April. Congress slashed $88 million in HUD nonprofit counseling funds for 2011.
“This cut jeopardizes the vital consumer protections housing counselors provide nationwide, and restoration of these funds is important to the recovery and stability of our housing markets,” Deborah Holston, HUD’s acting deputy assistant secretary for single family housing, told a House subcommittee Wednesday.
About half of the clients in the counseling program in 2009 and 2010 sought foreclosure prevention assistance. HUD points to research such as from the Government Accountability Office that found counseling resulted in fewer defaults. Also, borrowers who received National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program funds before a loan modification had a 53 percent better chance of bringing their mortgage up-to-date.
“This program has far-reaching effects throughout our economy, and the services it supports will continue to be vital to the ongoing recovery,” Holston told the subcommittee.
Source: “HUD Asks Congress to Restore Housing Counselor Funding,” HousingWire (Sept. 14, 2011)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
HUD Extends Unemployed Mortgage Relief Program
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has once again extended its deadline for a program that provides up to $50,000 in interest-free loans to unemployed or medically ill home owners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments.
The new deadline is now Sept. 15. HUD resumed taking applications for the program on Monday.
The $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, which launched in June, was originally slated to end on July 22, but HUD first extended the deadline to July 27 to give home owners more time to apply.
Home owners eligible for the program will be able to qualify for up to $50,000 in interest-free loans for up to two years. Home owners who have had a drop in income of at least 15 percent from involuntary unemployment or underemployment due to economic conditions or a medical emergency are eligible for the program. Home owners must still be able to contribute $150 per month toward their mortgage. (Learn more about eligibility requirements and the participating states at http://findehlp.com.)
Source: “HUD Extends Deadline for Unemployed Mortgage Assistance,” HousingWire (Aug. 29, 2011)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
AARP Sues HUD Over Reverse Mortgage Policy
AARP, an organization representing seniors, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development saying that HUD’s policy changes with reverse mortgages have pushed more older home owners into foreclosure. HUD regulates reverse mortgages, which pay older home owners a regular sum against the equity in their house.
The lawsuit centers on reverse mortgages where only one spouse signed the loan document. The AARP argues that HUD’s policy change in late 2008 has caused surviving spouses who are not named on the mortgage to be required to pay the full loan balance in order to stay in the home, even when the property is underwater.
Reverse mortgages were intended to be nonrecourse, so that even if a home’s value drops the borrower would only lose the house and would not be required to pay anything additional.
The lawsuit says HUD’s policy changes are unfair because they allow underwater homes with reverse mortgages to be sold to others for less than the full mortgage balance, while requiring spouses or heirs to the property to pay the full amount.
”HUD has illegally and without notice changed the rules in the middle of the game at the expense of vulnerable older people,” says Jean Constantine-Davis, a senior lawyer at the AARP Foundation.
Source: “AARP Sues U.S. Over Effects of Reverse Mortgages,” The New York Times (March 9, 2011)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
HUD Awards Funds for Housing Counseling
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $73 million in grants to housing-counseling agencies nationwide.
This total was 22 percent more than last year and the largest amount awarded since the program was begun in 1968.
“These organizations are on the front lines of helping families who are desperate to remain in their homes,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement. “Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we support these agencies that are working with struggling families on a one-to-one basis to manage their money, navigate the home-buying process, and secure their financial futures.”
Source: Washington Post, Dina ElBoghdady (12/24/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
HUD: Banks Will Be Held Responsible
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan said Wednesday that the onus is on banks to fix whatever foreclosure-related problems are found.
Donovan, who made the statement during a White House briefing about the matter, said problems found thus far haven’t appeared to be very serious, but the full investigation won’t be finished until the end of the year. If more serious problems are found, possible penalties could include fines and a ban against writing mortgages for more serious violations, he added
Bank of America and GMAC Mortgage have ended their foreclosure freeze because they didn’t find significant problems. Donovan said the government wasn’t involved in those decisions.
Source: Dow Jones Business News, Jared A. Favole (10/20/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
HUD Has Loans for Out-of-Work Borrowers
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday that it will offer $50,000 loans to unemployed borrowers who are at least three months behind in their payments, but who have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume regular payments within two years.
The property must be the borrower’s principal residence and they cannot own a second home. They must have suffered at least a 15 percent decline in income.
The loan is available in 32 states not receiving assistance through the Hardest Hit Fund, which gave 18 states more than $4 billion to devise programs to help the unemployed and underwater borrowers.
Source: CNNMoney.com, Tami Luhby (01/05/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC
Administration Undecided about Another Tax Credit
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the administration would “do everything we can” to stabilize the U.S. housing market.
Whether it will resurrect the first-time home buyer tax credit is up in the air. Donovan said that the drop in home sales in July was worse than the administration expected.
Donovan also said that the Federal Housing Administration will launch an emergency loan program to help unemployed borrowers stay in their homes and a program to help underwater borrowers refinance.
Source: Bloomberg, Holly Rosenkrantz (08/29/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
HUD to Investigate Discrimination Reports
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has said it will follow up on a report in the media that mortgage lenders are denying credit to borrowers because of pregnancy or maternity leave.
The widely reported story said that some lenders won’t count disability payments received during leaves as income.
“Lenders have every right to ascertain the incomes of families to determine whether they are eligible for a mortgage loan, but they have no right to use a pregnancy or a short-term disability as a cause to deny that family a mortgage they would otherwise qualify for,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in lending based on race, sex, disability, and familial status including pregnancy or children in the family.
Source: Inman News (07/27/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
HUD to Broaden Help for U.S. Cities
Cities hoping to tap into the Neighborhood Stabilization Program are being stymied by investors who pay cash for distressed housing units and rent them out — a trend that worries those who believe homeownership is key to stronger communities and higher property values.
In response, HUD will broaden the pool of foreclosures that municipalities can purchase to help them buy and resell homes at affordable rates.
Banks, meanwhile, are issuing new guidelines to real estate practitioners, requiring them to give priority to local governments using federal funds to acquire bank-owned residences.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Robert Selna (04/26/10)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
HUD Clarifies Listing of Charges
Flat-fee disclosures combined with commissions and listed on the HUD-1 sheet get government approval in an unofficial clarification by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD attorney Helen Kanovsky explained the procedures affecting real estate practitioner commissions in a recent letter to one of the lawyers involved in an ongoing class-action lawsuit involving commissions.
Kanovsky said that the commissions and flat fees could be combined on a single line of the HUD-1 settlement sheet as long as they are spelled out in the listing agreement or the buyer’s broker agreement.
Lawyers involved in the class-action suit advise that to avoid confusion – and lawsuits – practitioners should define the commission as equal to “X” percent of the sales price plus “Y” dollars.
Kanovsky warned that if the total real estate broker fees on the HUD-1 are greater than the amount in the real estate listing agreement or the buyer’s broker agreement. HUD might review the excess charge to determine whether additional services were provided.
“Any charge for which no or nominal services are performed or for which duplicative fees are charged would violate RESPA,” she wrote.
Also, administrative fee charges without a contractual relationship with the buyer, might violate RESPA, according to Kanovsky.
Source: Inman News, Matt Carter (02/25/2010)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
New Rules to Clarify Fees
New regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will require that closing costs be spelled out on a revised and consumer-friendly version of the good-faith estimate form that borrowers are supposed to receive within three days of applying for a mortgage. These rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2010.
Fees are divided into three categories:
* Fees that cannot increase from upfront estimates to closing, including lender or broker’s mortgage origination, processing, and underwriting charges, as well as lender or broker’s “points” based on the interest rate quoted and local transfer taxes.
* Fees that can increase as much as 10 percent from upfront estimates, including services such as appraisals, title insurance, and recording fees from local governments.
* Fees that can increase without limit because the amount is difficult to predict in advance, including home owners insurance, daily interest charges on the loan, and initial deposits by the borrower into an escrow account.
The new HUD-1 form will allow the borrower to easily compare what they were told the settlement fees will be with what they actually are at closing.
Source: The Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (11/06/2009)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
HUD Won’t Delay New RESPA Rules
Federal regulators say there will be no further delays in implementing the proposed changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
In a letter to industry groups signed by Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is “imperative” that the new rules be “fully operational on schedule.”
There’s still a possibility that Congress could intervene. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), who has fought RESPA changes for more than five years, has proposed a delay in implementation of the current changes for “a reasonable amount of time.”
Banks are apparently willing to let the changes go through at this point. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage executives wrote HUD this week saying: “We have already programmed the mandated RESPA changes into over 40 computer systems and have no choice but to proceed with implementation of the new forms” on Jan. 1.
Source: Inman News, Matt Carter (10/16/2009)
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.
Jan 2010 changes are coming to RESPA
RESPA – Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
HUD is requiring that loan originators provide borrowers with a standard Good Faith Estimate that clearly discloses key loan terms and closing costs and that closing agents provide borrowers with a new HUD-1 settlement statement. New RESPA regulations were published November 17, 2008 and are scheduled to take full effect on January 1, 2010. The “New RESPA Rule FAQs” were comprised from industry questions and are posted to facilitate implementation of these new requirements.
Consumers
RESPA is about closing costs and settlement procedures. RESPA requires that consumers receive disclosures at various times in the transaction and outlaws kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services. RESPA is a HUD consumer protection statute designed to help homebuyers be better shoppers in the home buying process, and is enforced by HUD.
Front Gate Properties, We’re selling the BEST Real Estate in Aiken, SC.