On March 19, 2025, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2025-08 titled “Rescinding Multiple Appraisal Policy Related Mortgagee Letters.” As the title suggests, FHA rescinded three mortgagee...more
As we discussed in a recent post, earlier this year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued Mortgagee Letter 2024-10, which imposed a new requirement on all FHA-approved mortgagees to report...more
On May 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued requirements, effective immediately, for all FHA-approved mortgagees to report certain cyber incidents to HUD within 12 hours of detection....more
On June 17, 2024, FHA announced in draft Mortgage Letter 2024-12 a proposed revision to its Defect Taxonomy to clarify that fraud or material misrepresentation involving a sponsored Third-Party Originator (TPO) is a Tier 1...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued new heightened cybersecurity incident notice requirements that take effect immediately. FHA-approved mortgagees are now required to notify HUD of any...more
Last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revised multiple regulations and requirements related to servicing Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs, more commonly known as “reverse mortgages”), with...more
On July 18, FHA announced a proposed rule for public comment that would revise requirements for investing lenders and mortgagees “to gain or maintain status as an FHA-approved lender or mortgagee.” The proposed rule would...more
On January 22, 2021, several New York State Assembly Members reintroduced legislation (Bill No. A03139) that seeks to amend New York’s Real Property Law and Tax Law, New York’s Tax Law and New York’s Uniform Commercial Code...more
In this alert, we consider a recent decision of the English High Court concerning the extent to which the equitable duty applicable to lenders, security agents and receivers in the context of an enforcement sale may be...more
On June 17, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an extension of its eviction and foreclosure moratorium due to the COVID-19 pandemic until August 31, 2020. This is an extension of FHFA’s May 14 and March...more
On Monday April 20, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law an emergency act that will temporarily ban almost all eviction and foreclosure proceedings statewide during the COVID-19 pandemic. That law, H4647...more
On April 17, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives seeking to create the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020. The primary feature of the bill is it would suspend all rent and mortgage...more
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2019-15, in which it announced several modifications to the Mortgagee Optional Election (MOE) Assignment claim process for Home...more
We have reported on the attempt by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to impose new documentation requirements for down payment assistance provided by government entities to be used in connection with...more
On April 18, 2019 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2019-06 setting forth new documentation requirements for down payment assistance provided by government entities to be used...more
The West Virginia Legislature is in session and again is considering a bill to reduce penalties available under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act ("WVCCPA" or "Act"). The Act is the primary statute under...more
Because there can be more than one individual or entity that holds an interest in property, a property insurance policy is generally drafted in such a way to identify and protect all the individuals or entities who have an...more
A not uncommon scenario: after examining the charred debris of a property fire, investigators note that the building’s alarm failed to sound and automatic sprinkler system similarly failed to activate because neither had been...more
In the first part of the series “The Mortgage Servicer’s Role in Navigating Insurance Claims,” we covered assessing the damage in the wake of a natural disaster and applying the proceeds when complying with the terms of...more
One of the plethora of new procedures enacted in the 2016 General Assembly’s legislative session is a concept which is being dubbed a “judgment of loss mitigation.” The procedure seems straightforward at first – a lender can...more
In Fornesa v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., plaintiff sought a damage award against a defendant mortgagor for compensatory and punitive damages, based on alleged predatory lending practices. 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 2011 (S.D. Tex. May 13,...more
The state of New Jersey has enacted provisions related to the recording of mortgages and foreclosure of mortgages. A new provision permits only the established holder of a mortgage to take action to foreclosure on a mortgage....more
Lat week, Minnesota’s highest court unanimously held that a mortgagee’s recovery for vandalism damage to a vacant building is only barred by the vacancy clause if the insured’s acts caused the vacancy. The decision is ...more
A recent decision from the Second DCA reinforces that a subsequent mortgagee or servicer must be prepared to lay a proper foundation in order to introduce a predecessor mortgagee or servicer’s payment history by testifying as...more
In what can only be perceived as a response to a recent Superior Court decision, the Rhode Island General Assembly amended the applicability of the Foreclosure Mediation Law, R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-27-3.2, for the third time in...more