Department of Housing and Urban Development March 4, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This interim rule reinstates, with certain modifications, regulations that HUD formerly published to serve as the framework by which emergency relief may be provided to homeowners experiencing temporary involuntary loss of employment or underemployment resulting in a substantial reduction in income due to adverse economic conditions, and who consequently are financially unable to make full mortgage payments. These regulations were promulgated following enactment of the Emergency Homeowners' Relief Act of 1975. This 1975 statute provided standby authority to the Secretary to insure or make loans to homeowners to defray mortgage expenses, so as to prevent widespread mortgage foreclosures and distress sales of homes resulting from a homeowner's substantial reduction income. Although the 1975 regulations were quickly put in place, they were not utilized, and HUD eventually removed the regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in 1995. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, recently enacted into law, reauthorized the 1975 statute, with certain amendments, and made $1 billion available for this 1975 program during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. Accordingly, HUD is reinstating the regulations for the program, under the title of ``Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program,'' with such modifications as necessary to mirror the statutory changes to the Emergency Homeowners' Relief Act of 1975 made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.