Foreclosures, Mortgages

On April 14, 2016 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced what it described as its final loss mitigation initiative of the foreclosure crisis, a “Principal Reduction Modification Program.” The Program will apply to a limited number of loans owned or insured by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Borrowers will not be able to apply for these modifications. Instead, during the latter half of 2016...

In evaluating whether to file a court action for violations of the RESPA Reg. X loss mitigation rule, determine if the servicer evaluated any of the client’s earlier loss mitigation applications. Reg. X, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(i) provides that a servicer is "only required to comply with the requirements of this section for a single complete loss mitigation application for a borrower’s mortgage loan...

Congress has just revived and extended the QPRI exclusion, an important protection for struggling homeowners. As discussed in this article, now a homeowner with a short sale or other modification of their home mortgage loan principal can avoid tax liability on debt forgiven during tax years 2018, 2019, and 2020, despite receiving a 1099 indicating the forgiven debt as income.

New CFPB mortgage servicing rules offer homeowners key protections. In the last year, over thirty significant decisions interpret the new CFPB mortgage servicing rules. This article provides a roadmap to detailed analyses of the recent federal circuit and district court decisions.

A new CFPB interim final rule provides an exception for mortgage servicer compliance with loss mitigation evaluations for borrowers exiting a COVID-19 forbearance, but only if the borrowers are given important rights. This article explains that forborne payments are deferred, interest free, until the end of the loan term, no fees can be charged, any delinquency is canceled, and the borrower can still apply for alternative loss mitigation.

New requirements, interpretations and issues have been raised in 2015 as to federal mortgage servicing requirements. These are all covered in the updated online version of Chapter 3 of NCLC’s Foreclosures and Mortgage Servicing (5th ed. 2014). Click on highlight updates to see the new changes added since the print edition: Section 3.2.2: this new section addresses the question of whether RESPA...

This article provides tips and explains new protections for homeowners having difficulty making mortgage payments. Included are federal and state forbearance programs and moratoria on foreclosures. Just as important, the article explains how to apply for forbearance, how forbearance prevents foreclosure, and what mortgage repayment options are available once the forbearance period expires.

The Talent-Nelson Military Lending Act (MLA), 10 U.S.C. § 987, enacted in 2006, imposes a 36% interest rate cap, bans mandatory arbitration, and imposes other restrictions on “consumer credit” extended to service members and their dependents. The MLA thus applies to more than 5 million Americans. The MLA though applies only to an individual who, at the time he or she becomes obligated on a...

HUD created a March 21st deadline for reverse mortgage servicers to assign the reverse mortgage to HUD without financial penalty in order to protect certain surviving non-borrower spouses from foreclosure. This article explains the meaning of the deadline and what actions non-borrowing surviving spouses should take so that they can remain in their homes. For a certain category of surviving spouses, it is important to act before March 21.

This article lists a growing number of actions Congress, governors, federal and state agencies, and companies are taking to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic: suspensions on foreclosures, evictions, and terminations on telecommunications and utility service, elimination of interest and forbearance on student loan payments and home mortgages, and more.