The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General assessed what information servicers of mortgage loans that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures were providing on their public facing websites to borrowers regarding forbearance.
On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide economic relief to individuals and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 17, 2020, 22 days after enactment of the Act, we reviewed the top 30 servicers’ websites to identify readily accessible information for borrowers related to the COVID-19 crisis.
Our review of the 30 servicers’ websites, which service approximately 90 percent of FHA loans, revealed that those websites provided incomplete, inconsistent, dated, and unclear guidance to borrowers related to their forbearance options under the CARES Act. HUD OIG plans to initiate additional work related to forbearance offered by FHA servicers under the CARES Act.