Require lenders to provide evidence of sufficient flood insurance or execute indemnification agreements for the 21 loans in our statistical sample that did not have sufficient flood insurance at the time of our audit to put nearly $1.1 million to better use. (See appendix A.)

Develop a control to detect loans that did not maintain the required flood insurance to put $1.5 billion to better use by avoiding potential future costs to the FHA insurance fund from inadequately insured properties.

Corrective Action Taken

In November 2022, FHA published the Acceptance of Private Flood Insurance for FHA-Insured Mortgages final rule (Docket No. FR-6084-F-02) in the Federal Register and issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-18, Acceptance of Private Flood Insurance for FHA-Insured Mortgages (ML 2022-18). These policy changes not only strengthened Single Family’s Mortgagee requirements regarding flood insurance, but they also introduced the ability for borrowers and Mortgagees to purchase private flood insurance. In January 2023, the sections in ML 2022-18 that pertain to HUD’s forward mortgage programs were superseded by the FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (Handbook 4000.1), adding a requirement that the Mortgagee review all FHA-insured properties annually to determine if the property is located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). For properties located within a SFHA, the Mortgagee must ensure flood insurance is in force for the life of the mortgage and that the property has sufficient flood insurance coverage. To ensure compliance with the policy requirements, the Mortgagee must include updated flood insurance information for properties where flood insurance is required in the Servicing and Claims File. In addition, Handbook 4000.1 includes flood insurance servicing policy updates. HUD submitted a revised management decision reflecting this action on June 22, 2023.

Consult with the Office of General Counsel to review the language in the statutes, regulations, and handbooks and if warranted, make adjustments to the forward mortgage handbook to ensure consistency with the statute.

Consult with the Office of General Counsel to review the language in the statutes, regulations, and handbooks and if warranted, make adjustments to the HECM handbook to ensure consistency with the statute and regulation.

Develop and implement written policies and procedures and controls for the FHA refund process to address the deficiencies identified in the audit report. These should include (1) controls to ensure that the website for the public listing of all unpaid refunds is complete, (2) controls to ensure that refund applications are sent only to the homeowners who requested them, (3) controls to ensure that refund applications are sent to all homeowners on the loan after loan termination, and (4) a formal monitoring framework for tracking the status of refunds.

Develop and implement written policies and procedures (1) for locating homeowners who have unpaid refunds (for both existing and new refunds), (2) to establish a standard timeframe for mailing refund applications to homeowners after they are requested, and (3) to establish requirements for verifying the termination date based on supporting documents provided by homeowners.

Research, develop, and implement policies and procedures to reduce the number of refunds that have remained unclaimed for an extended period, including consideration of a statute of limitations.

Develop and implement written policies and procedures regarding the designation of legal representation for applicants.

Obtain the required approvals under the Paperwork Reduction Act for the insert document mailed with the refund application and the Tracer Found Case form.

Perform data analysis of FHA’s portfolio to identify borrowers who are delinquent and did not fully benefit from the COVID-19 forbearance, including those in bankruptcy;

Develop a standardized brochure or informational pamphlet that would inform delinquent borrowers of their right to a forbearance under the CARES Act; and

Ensure that this information is distributed to delinquent borrowers so it can benefit the greatest number of borrowers to put $5.43 billion to better use by avoiding potential future losses on 112,160 loans.

Review the 21 loans with improperly administered forbearance to ensure that the borrowers were remedied by the servicers, if possible, and ensure that these servicers updated their forbearance procedures to prevent future noncompliance.

Ensure that the issues found during our audit are incorporated into QAD’s servicing monitoring reviews.

Provide additional guidance to the servicers so they will limit their communication and collection efforts for the borrowers in forbearance.

We recommend that the Office of Single Family Housing coordinate its efforts with the Office of Public and Indian Housing and the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs to further ensure that appropriate controls are in place to prevent HECM borrowers from violating principal residency requirements.

Request an opinion from HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s Appropriation Law Division on whether the abnormal balance in account 4901 constitutes a violation of the Antideficiency Act.

Enhance standard operating procedures around system and account reconciliations to ensure that they cover all possible scenarios and are easy to follow.

Appropriately train and monitor new personnel to ensure that they understand and execute the procedures and controls.

Update procedures to clearly define error thresholds that require follow-up and the communication process for elevating errors to supervisors, managers, and senior leadership.