HUD suspends foreclosures in storm-torn areas

The Department of Housing and Urban Development last Friday instructed companies active in mortgage servicing to temporarily stop moving borrowers in its loan programs toward foreclosure in two regions with presidential disaster declarations.

Distressed borrowers in parts of Maine and Nebraska are the latest to get short-term leniency on government loan payments due to a wave of severe April storms that HUD has been working to address.

Banner, Cheyenne, Dawes, Garden, Kimball, Morrill, Scotts Bluff and Sioux counties in Nebraska experienced storms April 6 and 7. HUD ordered its typical 90-day foreclosure pause for designated disasters to Federal Housing Administration and Section 184 loans there last Friday. 

Meanwhile, HUD also announced last Friday that it has officially implemented a short-term pause on foreclosures in Maine's Cumberland and York counties, which were hit by a storm between April 3 and April 5. 

All the disasters the most recent actions target occurred in early April, suggesting other weather events that occurred later in what's been an active period for storms could be granted similar relief soon.

For example, the Eastern part of Nebraska around Omaha suffered an official disaster April 25-27 in addition to the weather event the state experienced in its Western region earlier that month.

Meanwhile, HUD also announced last Tuesday that it has suspended foreclosures in the following West Virginia counties, which were hit by storms between April 2 and 6: Boone, Cabell, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, Marshall, Nicholas, Ohio, Putnam, Wayne and Wetzel.

Other notable disasters HUD recently has responded to with foreclosure suspensions include Texas storms that began in late April. These affected Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity and Walker counties.

Parts of Iowa also recently were beset by storms earlier this year and have been allocated temporary HUD foreclosure relief. These affected the counties of Clark, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby and Union.

A combination of tornadoes and straight-line winds generally contributed to the aforementioned disasters. In some cases flooding, mud and landslides also occurred.

Adrianne Todman, acting secretary HUD, told a Senate appropriations subcommittee in April that the climate crisis is one of the "longstanding systemic challenges" that the department wants to address.

Last month, HUD sought to do this through involvement in an agreement settling a Fair Housing Act allegation against a state aid office in North Carolina. The office allegedly discriminated against property heirs impeded by the lack of a formal will, a circumstance that muddies title.

In April, the FHA published a new final rule for flood-risk management that includes new standards for elevation and structural resilience in certain zones. The rule's minimum requirements have already gone into effect but some aspects of compliance start Jan. 1.

FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon said at an Americatalyst conference earlier this year that the administration has been leaning heavily on the mortgage industry in its efforts to tackle disaster risk and climate change.

HUD instructs borrowers to contact their servicers if they need assistance with foreclosure suspensions. Consumers also may turn to the department's online guide to disaster relief options for information.

In addition to providing relief to government loans in disaster areas through foreclosure suspensions, HUD provides automatic 90-day extensions to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages in these regions.