On the Docket: HUD Updates Foreclosure Policies HUD increased the cap on foreclosure attorneys’ fees that may be eligible for reimbursement on FHA insurance claims and published a list of acceptable time frames within every state for completing the foreclosure process.
Beginning January 1, 2016, the policies announced in Mortgagee Letter 2015-24 will supersede all prior reasonable diligence (foreclosure) time frames, attorney fee schedules, and Cash for Keys’ relocation allowances, including those outlined in Mortgagee Letters 13-38 and 02-13.
“These updates are necessary to help align FHA’s foreclosure timelines with the industry’s experience in all states across the country,” HUD says. “In addition, the guidance provides greater clarity and/or more information to mortgage servicers.”
The policies announced in Mortgagee Letter 2015-24 apply to companies that service FHA forward mortgages and reverse mortgages. However, HUD officials confirmed to NRMLA that changes to the Cash for Keys’ relocation allowance—an incentive that pays individuals to voluntarily vacate a property rather than face legal eviction—is not applicable to HECM.
The mortgagee letter includes attachments with updated attorney fee schedules and reasonable diligence time frames for every state.
“The reasonable diligence time frame begins with the first legal action required by the jurisdiction to commence foreclosure and ends with the later date of acquiring good marketable title and possession of the property,” ML 2015-24 states. “HUD expects mortgagees to comply with all federal, state and local laws when prosecuting a foreclosure and pursuing a possessory action.”
Contribute to a Good Cause Throughout 2015, NRMLA has been focusing on the theme of “Helping More People.” As a demonstration of this effort, member companies that are sponsors of this year’s Annual Meeting & Expo have organized a charitable event on Monday, November 16, to raise awareness and money for the Curry Senior Center, a nonprofit organization serving homeless and low-income seniors in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
The Art of Thankful Giving Reception & Benefit will take place at the Terra Gallery immediately following NRMLA’s opening reception. There will be a silent auction to help raise funds, or attendees can donate separately.
If you can’t attend the Annual Meeting & Expo, NRMLA would appreciate your support for the Curry Senior Center by making a $25 donation today. The money we raise will fund CSC’s distribution of Thanksgiving bags to its clients. Our goal is to fill 350 bags with nonperishable food items and word-search puzzle booklets.
Started in the 1970s, CSC offers essential social services, such as free meals, free housing, free health services, and more than 40 different community programs and classes for a very diverse group of people. Staff members speak nine different languages, including Cantonese, Laotian and Mandarin.
CSC serves 350 people breakfast and lunch 365 days a year. There are 16 rooms available for very low-income seniors who otherwise would be homeless. There is a waiting list to get a room, but once someone is assigned a room, they can stay there for as long as they wish. To make a donation today, please contact Sarah Aaronson at sarahaaronson@comcast.net.
NRMLA Supports Updating Form 92900-A, But… While NRMLA supports HUD’s efforts to revise and update its Addendum to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (Form 92900-A), we are requesting that the department be more explicit about what sections of the addendum apply to HECM mortgagees and consumers.
Form 92900-A is required in FHA loan packages, both forward and reverse, but much of the language is tailored to forward mortgages. In recent comments submitted to HUD, NRMLA highlighted sections of the proposed addendum that do not apply to HECM mortgagees and consumers, and noted that there is currently no signature line for non-borrowing spouses.
HUD published a Notice in the Federal Register on May 15 requesting public feedback on its proposed revisions, which it said were necessary to:
- Differentiate between the initial and final Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA)
- Revise mortgagee certification on debarment and suspension to be loan-level specific
- Remove references to HUD Handbooks no longer in use by the Office of Single Family Housing
- Update language regarding acceptable sources of funds
- Provide updated nondiscrimination language
- Update terminology to reflect new Single Family Housing Handbook 4000.1
Members can download NRMLA’s complete comments by logging into the member site nrmlaonline.org.
The Silver Debutante Ball There were 14 screens at the movie complex in Palm Beach Gardens, but there may as well have been just one. As I stood near the box office late Saturday afternoon, each person in the long line requested the same movie: The Intern. Palm Beach Gardens, after all, is a community where people go to retire, and they all wanted to see Robert De Niro, one of their own, playing a widower who interns for Anne Hathaway and gets to romance Rene Russo. Eventually, the ticket seller stopped asking, “Which movie?” and simply said, “How many?”
Just five years ago, I doubt this movie would have been made by a Hollywood studio. And neither would Grandma or A Walk in the Woods or Ricki and the Flash. But we’re in the midst of a culture shift. Some people (particularly those who prefer deficit cutting to caring for our own) call it the Silver Tsunami, which means it scares them. I prefer to call it the Silver Debutante Ball. This is the national coming-out party for older Americans. The focus is on them. Hurrah.
Aging in Place Week 2015
As we began our celebration of Aging in Place Week 2015, we found ourselves in a different environment than in any of the nine previous weeklong celebrations: The market is being flooded with new products, new approaches and new solutions for aging issues. Venture capitalists are fielding and funding new companies all over the country. Age-focused businesses are emerging and, in many cases, merging to get larger and accommodate the crowd that is growing like tailgaters in an NFL city parking lot on Sunday afternoon.
All of this is good. The more solutions and attention, the better. But it also comes with its own problems. As the market gets more crowded, as the available products and services multiply, how are people with mobility, cognitive and confidence issues going to sort their way through it? How are they going to find what they need, what is available and who they can trust to deliver it?
That’s where the National Aging in Place Council (NAIPC) comes in. Among our roles as an alliance of assistance providers and advocates must be the education of our aging families and friends about the burgeoning market they find themselves in—to clear out the clutter, get rid of the weeds and, most importantly, simplify access. Our method of achieving this is collaboration and centralization.
When I was a kid in the ’50s, our mom would pile my brother and me into our station wagon on Saturday mornings and travel all over town and into other towns for food shopping, clothes shopping, cleaning and haircuts. And then someone came up with the idea of the mall, of everything in one place. It was so obvious.
As we celebrated this week, apart but together, what I felt is that we are building a national virtual mall for aging in place.
NAIPC Annual Meeting: Creating a System for Aging in Place in America The National Aging in Place Council will be hosting its Annual Meeting, Creating a System for Aging in Place in America, at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, from December 2 to 3.
For two days, thought leaders and industry professionals from around the country will meet to discuss the best ways to plan for aging and improve the aging-in-place process.
The Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) Kathryn Lawler is this year’s keynote speaker. Lawler’s topic is Age-Friendly Communities: Go Big or Go Home. She’ll discuss how this movement has made tremendous progress raising awareness about the need to prepare for an aging society. The meeting will address, among other subjects, advocacy, technology and development. Other panels and roundtable discussions include The Boomer Sensibility and Overcoming the Denial of Aging; the Crossroads of Housing and Health Care; and Personal Finance: Retirement Funding Options, among others. A special presentation by Bob Carr, founder of Common Courtesy, and a tour of Georgia Tech’s Aware Home Innovation Center are also included in the agenda.
To learn more or to register, visit NAIPC’s website at ageinplace.org.
Professional Achieves CRMP Status NRMLA congratulates Greg Gianoplus of Gateway Bank Mortgage, Inc., based in Wilmington, North Carolina, for achieving the status of Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional.
Gianoplus is one of 112 individuals who have earned the CRMP designation since mid-2010. Each person is prominently listed on the NRMLA consumer website, at reversemortgage.org. To learn more about the CRMP, visit nrmlaonline.org.
Just Joined NRMLA welcomes the following new members:
- Capital Funding, Laguna Niguel, California (lender member)
- PCV Murcor, Pomona, California (associate member)
- RTC Mortgage Corporation, Laguna Beach, California (lender member)
- Secure Lending Incorporated, Cleveland, Ohio (lender member)
- SingleSource Property Solutions, LLC, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (associate member)
