On September 9, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced additional requirements and flexibilities for $3.96 billion in emergency solutions grants provided to states and units of local government under the CARES Act. These flexibilities allow for additional eligible activities for which the recipients can use the funds and also extends the obligation deadline for the recipients. Release.
On January 7, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published its proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (AFFH Rule). The proposed AFFH Rule would replace the AFFH Rule that was finalized in 2015 to provide a process for evaluating local jurisdictions’ compliance with the Fair Housing Act’s requirement that HUD funding be used to affirmatively further fair housing. The proposed AFFH Rule revises the 2015 definition of “affirmatively furthering fair housing”, develops metrics to compare jurisdictions and requires jurisdictions to identify steps they will take over five years to comply with AFFH Rule requirements. Comments on the proposed AFFH Rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. HUD Release. Proposed Rule.
On March 19, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for February 2015: (i) BUILDING PERMITS: Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,092,000. This is 3.0 percent (±1.7%) above the revised January rate of 1,060,000, but is 7.7 percent (±2.0%) above the February 2014 estimate of 1,014,000. Release.
On May 3, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in the Southern District of New York against Deutsche Bank AG and MortgageIT Inc. (which was a wholly owned by Deutsche Bank), asserting multiple claims under the False Claims Act as well as claims for breach of fiduciary duty, gross negligence, negligence and indemnity. The Complaint arises out of MortgageIT’s activities as a qualified Direct Endorsement Lender of the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). From 1999 through 2009, the defendants originated mortgages that were insured by FHA. The Complaint alleges that during this time the defendants lied to FHA to maintain their Direct Endorsement Lender status which in turn allowed them to continue originating loans that were insured by FHA. The DOJ alleges that the defendants failed to abide by FHA’s standards to control the amount of risk the program would assume by funding mortgages that did not satisfy the underwriting guidelines and failing to implement quality control provisions to monitor the strength of the loans. The Complaint also alleges that HUD has paid more than $386 million in FHA insurance claims arising out of mortgages originated by the defendants. The DOJ seeks treble damages and penalties under the False Claims Act, as well as compensatory and punitive damages in connection with its other claims. Complaint.
On March 28, 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency released a joint notice of proposed rulemaking to implement the credit risk retention requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The paper linked below provides an in-depth examination of the proposed rules and their implications for financial markets. Click here to read more.
