The Federal Housing Administration issued temporary partial waivers today that will provide mortgagees with expanded flexibility to help senior homeowners with HECMs who continue to experience significant financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The temporary partial waiver of Mortgagee Letter 2015-11 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, 2022; and
- The temporary partial waiver of Mortgagee Letter 2016-07 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, 2022.
FHA announced in FHA INFO 2022-64 that, “As the nation continues its recovery from COVID-19, these waivers offer relief to HECM borrowers who were unable to make timely property charge payments due to financial hardships resulting from the pandemic.”
Mortgagees are encouraged to thoroughly review both waivers and the policies outlined in Mortgagee Letters 2015-11 and 2016-07.