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HUD To Insure Reverse Mortgages Protecting Non-Borrowing Spouses; Senators Seek Protections For Surviving Heirs
On April 25, HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2014-07, which states that effective August 4, 2014, HUD will apply an alternative interpretation of Subsection 255(j) of the National Housing Act, which HUD has interpreted to limit its reverse mortgage program (HECM) to insuring only those that contain a safeguard to defer repayment of the loan until the homeowner’s death and certain other circumstances. Going forward, HUD also will insure HECMs that contain a provision deferring the due and payable status in the event of the death of the last surviving mortgagor or the death of the last surviving non-borrowing spouse (including common law), if the spouse was identified at the time of closing. HUD states the change will obviate the need for non-borrowing spouses to refinance the loan upon the mortgagor’s death. HUD intends to publish a rule on this issue, but decided to take initial action through a mortgagee letter, as allowed under the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013.
On April 30, Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Boxer (D-CA) sent a letter to HUD Secretary Donovan following reported allegations that reverse mortgage companies are threatening heirs with foreclosure instead of following HUD’s rules and allowing them to satisfy the loan at 95% of current appraised value. The Senators' letter asks HUD to: (i) issue a mortgagee letter making clear that a matured reverse mortgage loan can be extinguished by the mortgagor, the mortgagor’s estate, or personal representative by paying 95% of the home’s market value; (ii) develop a letter that servicers can send to a borrower’s family members and heirs that outlines options for satisfying the loan; and (iii) enforce existing rules and require that any servicer that fails to offer this option within the required time allow a family member or heir to pay the lower of 95% of the home’s value at the time the loan became due or 95% of the home’s value at the time the error was corrected.
HUD Releases Recertification Deadline for FHA Mortgagees
On March 26, HUD presented a webinar regarding upcoming changes to the online system used by FHA mortgagees to certify, pay annual fees, and report other information. Specifically, the Lender Electronic Assessment Portal (LEAP) will be replacing LASS, Lender Approval and Cash Flow Account Set Up in FHA Connection. Per Mortgagee Letter 2013-42, due to the online system being unavailable during the transition, the recertification and annual fee requirement for mortgagees with Fiscal Years ending on December 31, 2013, has been extended until June 9, 2014, thirty-days following the LEAP “Go-Live” date of May 9, 2014. All other mortgagees will have 90 days after their fiscal year end to submit recertification. Among other changes to the recertification process, LEAP will require mortgagees to indicate which certifications they cannot complete and submit supporting documents specific to each instance in which the mortgagee cannot recertify. In addition, FHA is consolidating Title I and II ID numbers for all mortgagees that share a common Tax Identification Number. The first phase of the consolidation will take place on Monday, March 31, 2014, and will result in all mortgagee profile information and loan history for existing Title I IDs to be transferred to the new IDs. Additional information, including corporate officers, EFT Account numbers and Historical Approval dates will be consolidated on LEAP’s “Go-Live” date on May 9, 2014. Finally, LASS will not be available after March 31, and any pending recertification or filing in LASS will be inaccessible. However, FHA employees will have access to LASS and can work with mortgagees on an individual basis to complete those filings. During an April 18 to May 9 transition period, mortgagees must request changes to their profiles via hard copy requests to HUD’s Officer of Lender Activities and Program Compliance.
HUD Proposes To Eliminate Post-Payment Interest On FHA Loans
On March 13, HUD proposed a rule to prohibit mortgagees from charging post-payment interest under FHA’s single family mortgage insurance program. The proposal is responsive to the CFPB’s ATR/QM rule, under which post-payment interest charged in connection with FHA loans closed on or after January 21, 2015 will be considered a prepayment penalty. HUD’s proposal states that while some single-family FHA mortgages would meet the requirements under the ATR/QM rule permitting limited prepayment penalties during the first 36 months of the mortgage, others would not. The proposal seeks to achieve consistency among FHA single-family mortgage products and to provide the same protections for all borrowers. It would remove a provision that currently allows mortgagees to require payment of interest up to the next installment due date, and instead require mortgagees to accept a prepayment at any time and in any amount without charging a post-payment charge, notwithstanding the terms of the loan. Under the proposed rule, monthly interest on the debt would be calculated on the actual unpaid principal balance as of the date prepayment is received. Comments on the proposal are due by May 12, 2014.
Mortgage Fraud Whistleblower Receives $64 Million Award
On March 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a stipulation and order awarding nearly $64 million to the relator in a mortgage fraud case recently settled by the federal government. Pursuant to that settlement, a mortgage lender agreed to pay a total of $614 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false loan-level certifications that fraudulently induced HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs to insure ineligible mortgage loans.
HUD Implements New Manual Underwriting Standards
On January 21, HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 2014-02, which implements new manual underwriting standards announced in December 2013. The new standards and guidance will be effective for all case numbers assigned on or after April 21, 2014, and will apply to (i) loans involving borrowers without a credit score which were not scored against FHA’s TOTAL Scorecard; (ii) loans receiving a “Refer” scoring recommendation from FHA’s TOTAL Scorecard; and (iii) loans receiving an “Accept” scoring recommendation from FHA’s TOTAL Scorecard but which have been downgraded to a “Refer” by the underwriter. In addition, the standards apply when a loan receiving an “Accept” scoring recommendation is downgraded to a “Refer.” The HUD guidance addresses (i) maximum qualifying ratios for all manually underwritten loans based on the minimum decision credit score; (ii) revised compensating factors that must be used in order to exceed FHA’s standard qualifying ratios; and (iii) the requirement for cash reserves equal to one or more total monthly mortgage payments for manually underwritten loans involving one and two unit properties.
HUD Replaces Delinquent Borrower Publication
On January 10, HUD issued Mortgagee Letter 14-01, which notifies mortgagees that within 30 days they must begin using a new brochure for sending notice to delinquent FHA borrowers. HUD regulations require mortgagees to send the notice to FHA borrowers in default between the 32nd and 60th day of delinquency. Notice includes a cover letter and a brochure with foreclosure-related advice for borrowers. The new brochure, “Saving Your Home: Tips to Avoid Foreclosure,” replaces the “How to Avoid Foreclosure” brochure, HUD-PA-426, and includes information on revised loss mitigation tools available to FHA-insured borrowers. The mortgagee letter also reviews the requirements for the cover letter that must accompany the brochure, and provides a link for mortgagees to order the brochure.
Bank Obtains Dismissal Of Surviving Heir's Reverse Mortgage Class Action
On January 3, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice a putative class action alleging a bank breached its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Deed of Trust and HUD regulations by failing to provide a surviving heir notice and opportunity to purchase the property at 95 percent of its appraised value. Chandler v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 11-3831, 2014 WL 31315 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 3, 2014). The court held that the plain language of the deed does not require such notice, in part because the relevant section of the deed that requires the lender to provide notice when the loan becomes due and payable and an option to purchase the property for 95 percent of its appraised value prior to foreclosure (i) specifically does not include as a triggering event the death of the borrower, and (ii) grants rights to the borrower, not the borrower’s heirs. The court also rejected the heir’s claims that HUD regulations required the same notice and opportunity to purchase. The court held that the HUD regulations were not incorporated into the deed, and, even if they were and could be read to allow an heir to take advantage of the 95 percent rule, the applicable HUD interpretation of those regulations at the time required full payment of the debt.
HUD Finalizes Expansion Of Mortgagee Evaluation System
On December 30, HUD finalized revisions to the system used by the FHA to measure and inform mortgagees of their loss mitigation performance. The revisions, finalized in Mortgagee Letter 2013-46, involve more comprehensive metrics to evaluate mortgagees on their overall performance with regard to delinquent loan servicing, as opposed to the limited review of default reporting of forbearance actions and loss mitigation and foreclosure claims paid under the previous system. The evaluation will be used to determine which mortgagees are eligible for additional incentive payments during the January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014, calendar year. The final system is substantially similar to the proposed version, with some changes made in response to comments. HUD also updated the final scoring methodology using new default status codes delineated in Mortgagee Letter 2013-15. Also in its responses to comments, HUD agreed that it should improve loss mitigation performance by imposing penalties in individual cases of non-compliance with its loss mitigation requirements, stating that with the implementation of TRS II, HUD will have the granular data required for referral to enforcement divisions for “meaningful consequences to be imposed.”
HUD Delays Reverse Mortgage Requirements
On December 20, HUD announced in Mortgagee Letter 2013-45 that new requirements related to the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program (HECM) are tolled pending further guidance from the agency. Since announcing the new financial assessment requirements and funding requirements for the payment of property charges in September 2013, HUD has received comments that require HUD to update the requirements and guidance. Given those changes, HUD delayed the original date for compliance with the requirements—January 13, 2014—and will set a new effective date when it issues the updated guidance. Mortgagees will have at least 90 days to comply with the new guidance.
Special Alert: HUD Adopts Its Own QM Rule
On December 11, 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued a final rule defining what constitutes a “qualified mortgage” (“QM”) for purposes of loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”). With limited clarifications and adjustments, the rule tracks the proposal issued by HUD in September. This final rule, which applies to all case numbers assigned on or after January 10, 2014, replaces the temporary QM definition for FHA loans established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) in its Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (“ATR/QM Rule”).
Loans that qualify as QMs provide lenders with some legal protection against borrower lawsuits under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) alleging the lender did not sufficiently consider the borrower’s ability to repay the loan. Under HUD’s final rule, most FHA loans will qualify for the QM safe harbor if they have Annual Percentage Rates (“APRs”) that are no more than 2.5 percentage points over the Average Prime Offer Rate (“APOR”) for a comparable transaction (as opposed 1.5 percentage points over APOR in the CFPB’s ATR/QM Rule).
Questions regarding the matters discussed in this Alert may be directed to any of our lawyers listed below, or to any other BuckleySandler attorney with whom you have consulted in the past.
- Jeffrey P. Naimon, (202) 349-8030
- Clinton R. Rockwell, (310) 424-3901
- John P. Kromer, (202) 349-8040
- Joseph M. Kolar, (202) 349-8020
- Jeremiah S. Buckley, (202) 349-8010