Compliance Calendar

In this bulletin, Freddie Mac announced Loan Product Advisor® enhancement, Credit card reward points as a source of funds, expanding requirements for Community Land Trust Mortgages, and a few additional updates.

The purpose of this Circular is to announce changes to VA’s procedural requirements related to the acceptability of private roads and shared driveways for VA lending purposes.

Effective immediately, an ongoing maintenance agreement from a homeowner’s association or a joint maintenance agreement from the owners of properties accessed by the private road or shared driveway is no longer required for properties with private roads and shared driveways.

FHA granted two temporary partial waivers to its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loss mitigation policies. Both waivers continue the same flexibilities outlined in prior waivers dated June 16, 2022, that expire on December 31, 2022.

Temporary partial waiver of Mortgagee Letter 2015-11, Loss Mitigation Guidance for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) in Default due to Unpaid Property Charges. This waiver allows mortgagees to offer repayment plans to HECM borrowers with unpaid property charges regardless of their total outstanding arrearage and is effective through December 31, 2023.

Temporary partial waiver of Mortgagee Letter 2016-07, Expanded Permissive Loss Mitigation for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and Mortgagee’s Optional Extension to Submitting a Due and Payable Request. This waiver permits mortgagees to seek assignment of a HECM immediately after using their own funds to pay unpaid property taxes and insurance on or after March 1, 2020, by temporarily eliminating the three-year waiting period for such assignments. The waiver is effective through December 31, 2023.

These waivers provide mortgagees with continued flexibility to help senior homeowners with HECMs who still experience significant financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They enable mortgagees to offer relief to HECM borrowers who could not make timely property charge payments due to financial hardships resulting from the pandemic and provide mortgagees with additional flexibility when assigning loans to HUD.

Mortgagees are encouraged to review the waivers and policies outlined in Mortgagee Letters 2015-11 and 2016-07.

The Lender Financial and Participation Requirements Final Rule became effective on November 29, 2022. To implement this rule, the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) is pleased to announce numerous revisions to Handbook 1-3555 chapters 3, 10, and 12 as well as servicing updates to servicing guidelines described in Chapters 17, 18, and 19.

This Mortgagee Letter (ML) the requirement for mortgagees to notify a borrower’s estate, heirs, or other party with legal title to the property that the HECM has become due and payable from within 30 days of the date of the borrower’s death to within 30 days of providing notice of the borrower’s death to the Secretary.