HUD M&M III and Property Preservation Meeting MBA Letter to HUD
March 19th, 2010
As discussed in the March 19th edition of the MBA Advocacy Update, the MBA wrote a follow up letter to Vicki Bott, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Single Family Housing and Vance Morris, Director, Office of Single Family Asset Management at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The purpose of the letter was to confirm the MBA discussion topics from MBA’s March 10th meeting with HUD, and to establish additional critical items they would like to discuss on a teleconference with HUD in the near future.
MBA Continues Dialogue with HUD on Property and Preservation Issues
This week, MBA wrote a follow up letter (attached) to Vicki Bott, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Single Family Housing and Vance Morris, Director, Office of Single Family Asset Management at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The purpose of the letter was to confirm the MBA discussion topics from MBA’s March 10th meeting with HUD, and to establish additional critical items we would like to discuss on a teleconference with HUD in the near future.
In the letter, MBA confirmed that HUD is not changing the definition of its conveyance condition standard for vacant properties, with the exception of requiring the removal of interior debris. MBA further suggested that similar clarifications be made to HUD’s Mortgagee Compliance Manager (MCM) contract. MBA confirmed that HUD would remove large repairs from the $2,500 total property cap, namely items/services without a specific line item in the fee schedule to avoid unnecessary requests for over allowable expenses. MBA also expressed our appreciation of FHA’s decision to permit servicers to continue seeking reimbursement for over allowable costs on the Part C, rather than require supplemental claims. Further, MBA confirmed that FHA will not require the use of the “Property Inspection Report, HUD 9519-A” at this time, but plans to implement in the future.
During our in-person meeting, Assistant Secretary Bott expressed HUD’s interest in keeping the dialogue open between HUD and servicers. In our letter, we expressed an interest in a teleconference to discuss several additional issues, including: Hazard Claims; Treatment of Properties Where the Borrower Is in Loss Mitigation/Bankruptcy, and Occupied Conveyances.
For more information, contact Vicki Vidal (202) 557-2861 vvidal@mortgagebankers.org or Sandra Troutman (202) 557-2858 stroutman@mortgagebankers.org.
About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.