On April 14, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced alternative documentation options and delayed documentation delivery deadlines in connection with HECM assignments.
FHA also issued a temporary partial waiver, allowing mortgagees to offer a recalculated repayment plan for unpaid property charges to HECM borrowers, according to a press release.
The policy updates which apply to CT-22 Assignment Claim requests submitted on or before Oct. 30 include:
- Accepting alternative documentation as evidence of eligibility for an assignment claim payment for certain items (e.g., to document that taxes are current, mortgagees may obtain a report from a tax monitoring service indicating that property taxes are not delinquent);
- Providing an extension of time to deliver the original note and mortgage to the secretary because of issues relating to the COVID-19 crisis; and
- For HECMs with an FHA case number assigned before Sept. 19, 2017, giving an extension of time to deliver recorded assignments of mortgage to the secretary.
Additionally, the release said, for HECM borrowers under a repayment plan, FHA’s partial waiver will allow a borrower to repay property tax arrearages of any amount if the borrower is unable to make two consecutive payments during the COVID-19 national emergency.
The partial waiver is effective immediately and will remain in effect until Oct. 30.