Department of Housing and Urban Development January 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule proposes to revise the regulations governing FHA's Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program (Section 242 program) for the purpose of codifying, in regulation, FHA's implementation of its authority that allows hospitals to refinance existing loans, without requiring such refinancing to take place only in conjunction with the expenditure of funds for construction or renovation, which is the existing program requirement. The current downturn in the economy, which has reduced the availability of private financing, has not only adversely affected the housing industry, but has had a serious impact on hospitals across the Nation. At a time when the demand for health care services is on the rise, the lack of access to capital has made it difficult for hospitals to obtain financing for facility, equipment, and technology needs, as well as to meet obligations on existing debt. By expanding FHA's Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program to allow for refinancing of existing debt without conditioning such refinancing on new construction or renovation, HUD believes it can contribute to alleviating financial stress on hospitals and maintaining the availability of hospitals in many communities. This refinancing authority is specifically for the refinancing of non-FHA-insured loans of hospitals. Hospitals currently insured under FHA's Section 242 program may refinance under the National Housing Act.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is issuing a final regulation that requires the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and each Federal Home Loan Bank (collectively, regulated entities) to submit a timely report to FHFA upon discovery that it has purchased or sold a fraudulent loan or financial instrument, or suspects a possible fraud relating to the purchase or sale of any loan or financial instrument. The final regulation also requires the regulated entities to establish and maintain internal controls, policies, procedures, and operational training programs to ensure that any fraudulent loan or financial instrument or possible fraudulent loan or financial instrument is discovered and reported.

On May 4, 2009, HUD posted its NSP2 NOFA at https:// www.hud.gov/nsp and announced the availability of the NOFA on May 7, 2009 (74 FR 21377). The NSP2 NOFA announced the availability of approximately $1.93 billion available in competitive grants authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111- 5, approved February 17, 2009). HUD corrected the NSP2 NOFA by Notices posted on the HUD Web site on June 11, 2009 and November 9, 2009, and announced by Federal Register publications published on June 17, 2009 (74 FR 28715) and November 16, 2009 (74 FR 58973), respectively. Today's Federal Register publication announces that HUD has posted a notice making further corrections to the NSP2 NOFA. Specifically, the Notice corrects the NSP2 NOFA to permit HUD to specify the deadline date for submission of consortium funding agreements in the transmittal letter for the NSP2 grant agreement, which allows the submission deadline to occur after obligation of grant funds.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

This notice advises that HUD is issuing for public comment a comprehensive set of revised closing documents for use in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily rental projects. This notice starts anew the process for updating the multifamily rental project closing documents; that process commenced with an August 2, 2004, notice that presented proposed revised closing documents for public comment. The August 2004 notice was followed by an August 31, 2006, notice in which HUD provided updates on the closing document development process, advised of policy decisions that HUD had made at that time, and announced a September 21, 2006, public meeting at which HUD would take questions on the development process and policy decisions announced in the August 31, 2006, notice.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.

This rule implements the changes made to the HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) program by the recently enacted Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. Prior to enactment of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, rulemaking authority was under the Board of Directors of the HOPE for Homeowners Program (Board), and the regulations for the program are codified in a chapter of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) reserved for the Board.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives notice to the public, agencies, and Indian tribes that the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles, Community Development Department intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Redevelopment Project located in the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. The City of Los Angeles, Community Development Department, and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles acting jointly as the lead agencies will prepare the EIR/EIS acting under the authority of the City of Los Angeles as the responsible entity for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 5304(g) and 42 U.S.C. 12838 and HUD regulations at 24 CFR 58.4, and under their authority as lead agency in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The EIR/EIS will be a joint NEPA and CEQA document. The EIR will satisfy requirements of CEQA (Public Resources Code 21000 et seq.) and the State CEQA Guidelines (14 California Code of Regulations 15000 et seq.), which require that all state and local government agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects over which they have discretionary authority before acting on those projects. The proposed action is subject to compliance with NEPA, because Economic Development Initiative (EDI) and accompanying Section 108 Loans, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Urban Development Assistance Grant (UDAG), Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and HOME Funds would be used for the development. In addition, the developer may also apply for federal Recovery Zone Bonds (Recovery Zone Facility Bonds [RZFD], Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds [RZEDB]), New Market Tax Credits (NMTC), and Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives. This notice is given in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. All interested federal, state, and local agencies, Indian tribes, groups, and the public are invited to comment on the scope of the EIS. If you are an agency with jurisdiction by law over natural or other public resources affected by the project, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles, Community Development Department needs to know what environmental information germane to your statutory responsibilities should be included in the EIR/EIS.

Through today's Federal Register notice, HUD announces the availability on its Web site of the revised special information booklet (Booklet) pursuant to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) requirement in 12 U.S.C. Sec. 2604. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) (12 U.S.C. 2601-2617), establishes the process for disclosing settlement costs in the financing or refinancing of a home, and helps protect consumers from unethical practices by settlement service providers during the home-buying and loan process. Under RESPA, lenders and mortgage brokers are required to give borrowers this Booklet within three days of the borrower's applying for a mortgage loan. The Booklet provides information designed to assist individuals seeking to buy a home to become familiar with the home- buying process. As a result, the Booklet provides information regarding the purchase contract, how to use a Good Faith Estimate to shop for the best loan, required settlement services to close the loan, and the HUD- 1 Settlement Statement. It also provides information regarding interest rates, points, balloon payments, prepayment penalties and how they can affect mortgage payments. The Booklet also discusses how to resolve loan servicing problems that will help avoid actions that could lead to foreclosure.