Department of Housing and Urban Development October 15, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HUD has requested from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) emergency approval of the information collection described in this notice.

This Notice proactively provides lienholders of single family properties acquired by FHA in payment of mortgage insurance claims with FHA points of contact to ensure payment of tax liens and other types of liens on these single family properties. FHA uses contractors to manage these properties and make property charge payments. Inadvertently at times, these payments remain unpaid. This Notice provides direction for taxing authorities and similarly situated entities such as homeowners associations owed money for finding the proper point of contact at HUD for payment. As litigation to enforce liens should be a last resort, HUD is providing these specific points of contact that lienholders can use to obtain payment and avoid litigation. Through a related notice published elsewhere in today's Federal Register, HUD provides separate points of contact for payment of taxes and other property charges which have not risen to lien status. Elsewhere in today's Federal Register, HUD is publishing an interpretive rule regarding the procedures to be followed in bringing an action to foreclose HUD's ownership interest in properties with such liens that are unpaid.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) generally acquires title to single family properties when it pays mortgage insurance benefits to approved mortgagees. FHA's activities in managing and marketing the properties it acquires include paying real estate taxes referred to as ad valorem taxes (a tax based on the value of the property) and special assessments. For properties in condominiums or planned unit developments, FHA also pays homeowners' association or condominium association fees. During the period over which an insured lender forecloses and FHA becomes the owner of the property, taxes or other fees may become due and payable. With lenders conveying close to 100,000 properties annually to FHA, bills for taxes and fees may be past due and payable at the time of FHA's acquisition and suits are brought for payment of taxes and fees. This rule provides HUD's interpretation of the ``sue and be sued'' clause contained in section 1, Title I of the National Housing Act. This rule provides that, in the case of an action brought against HUD to foreclose on a lien arising out of unpaid taxes or fees, the term ``court of competent jurisdiction'' as used in section 1 of the National Housing Act refers to a United States District Court. In conjunction with this interpretive rule, HUD is providing, by separate notices published in today's Federal Register, direction to taxing authorities and other entities owed money as to the proper Point of Contact (POC) at HUD for seeking payment. In the unlikely event that payment is not timely made, the entity can bring an action under the Quiet Title Act in the appropriate United States District Court to foreclose on its lien interest in the property.