July 13, 2020

FHA moves to expand its loss mitigation options

6 minutes

In today’s Daily Download episode, HousingWire covers an announcement from the Federal Housing Administration that it has expanded its menu of loss mitigation options in succession with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s eviction prevention and stability toolkit.

For some background on the story, here’s a summary of the article:

The Federal Housing Administration announced on Wednesday an expanded menu of its loss mitigation options in succession with the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development’s eviction prevention and stability toolkit in an effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The FHA’s loss mitigation options employ a “waterfall method” to assess a homeowner’s eligibility if they do not qualify for its COVID-19 National Emergency Standalone Partial Claim. FHA compared the waterfall method to that of a filter, meaning when homeowners fail to meet the qualifications of servicing interventions they are moved down the waterfall of options as servicers attempt to get the borrower into a sustainable mortgage payment.

“Due to the fact that servicers are facing an unprecedented number of loss mitigation actions on the backside of this, we want to make it as easy for them as possible to get borrowers in a feasible situation on the other side of forbearance,” said a HUD official.

Following the main story, HousingWire covers plans by Wells Fargo to loosen its jumbo lending requirements for current customers and a report that claims apartment vacancies in New York have reached record-high levels as more people migrate to rural areas and larger living spaces.

The Daily Download examines the most compelling articles reported from the HousingWire newsroom. Each afternoon, we provide our listeners with a deeper look into the stories coming across our newsroom that are helping Move Markets Forward. Hosted by the HW team and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.

HousingWire articles covered in this episode:

FHA employs “waterfall method” to expand home retention measures

Wells Fargo loosens jumbo lending requirements for current customers

New York City apartment vacancy rates reach record highs

...more