HUD Webinar Q&A
On April 28, Dr. Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, participated in a webinar with NAHB members to discuss HUD's efforts to address the needs of housing market stakeholders – builders, developers, remodelers, homeowners, renters, and home buyers. Sec. Carson was joined by Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery to address HUD and Federal Housing (FHA) initiatives in response to the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.
The two housing policy officials addressed single-family and multifamily mortgage forbearance, rental assistance, and policies designed to support the housing market. They also discussed initiatives at FHA and Ginnie Mae, as well as grant programs, public housing and HUD's broad range of efforts to strengthen the housing industry.
Below are answers to key questions from webinar participants.
Financing Options and Mortgage Forbearance
A key element of FHA’s mission is to increase homeownership opportunities for creditworthy first-time home buyers. FHA constantly monitors the impacts of its policies and makes adjustments as needed to achieve the appropriate balance between meeting the needs of prospective borrowers and minimizing the risk to the taxpayer-backed Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF).
FHA notes that a borrower’s debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is only one factor in determining eligibility for FHA loans and that FHA in general permits a higher DTI than many other programs.
Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on similar programs from other agencies that would be eligible for GNMA, nor can we comment on FNMA programs.
Information regarding FHA's Single Family Streamline Refinance Program, however, can be found on the HUD website.
Following implementation of the CARES Act, FHA provided training on its forbearance policies to over 1,800 participants. That training was recorded and is available on FHA’s website.
In addition, FHA provides ongoing technical assistance to servicers and is adding reporting requirements to closely track the CARES Act forbearance and follow-on loss mitigation options.
Finally, from a quality control standpoint, HUD continues to perform targeted quality assurance reviews to oversee compliance with its policies.
HUD Oversight
This requirement has been waived in PIH notice 2020-5 at wavier 14.
RAD resident consultation is still required, but the acceptable methods have been adjusted to accommodate social distancing requirements. Please refer to page 27 of the Multifamily Q&A for COVID-19 for more details about the adjustments, and check the Multifamily home page regularly for the most current guidance.
At this time, we have not determined when REAC inspections will resume. However, we have no intention to lift the 14-day notice once inspections resume.
Having said that, we realize owners and public housing authorities (PHAs) will need time to deal with maintenance that is being currently deferred because of social distancing.
Jobsite Resources for Coronavirus Safety
Jobsite Resources for Coronavirus Safety
Access safety resources and a response plan for coronavirus on construction sites.