80 FR 62087 - Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Points of Contact for Lienholders To Ensure Payment of Taxes Liens and Other Types of Liens on FHA Acquired Single Family Properties

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 199 (October 15, 2015)

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.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62087-62088]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26167]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5823-N-01]


Federal Housing Administration (FHA): Points of Contact for 
Lienholders To Ensure Payment of Taxes Liens and Other Types of Liens 
on FHA Acquired Single Family Properties

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-FHA Commissioner, 
HUD.

ACTION: Notice of FHA points of contact for payment.

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SUMMARY: 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.

DATES: Effective date: October 15, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ivery Himes, Director, Office of 
Single Family Asset Management, Office of Housing, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 9172, 
Washington, DC 20410-8000, telephone number 202-708-1672. (this is not 
a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may 
access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    This Notice provides lienholders on single family properties 
acquired by FHA in payment of mortgage insurance claims with a Point of 
Contact in each of the four Homeownership Centers (HOCs). Each one of 
the four HOCs contains in its organizational structure the FHA 
operations staff who oversee much of the day-to-day work regarding FHA 
programs. Each HOC oversees on average 13 states/jurisdictions for FHA 
activities and has a Real Estate Owned (REO) division that handles the 
day-to-day oversight of FHA's acquired properties so they are (1) 
protected from vandalism and deterioration and (2) aggressively 
marketed for as high a price as possible. This Notice provides that the 
HUD offices that manage these properties are the proper recipients for 
tax bills and billings of a similar nature. In most cases, having a 
known point of contact to send billings should obviate the need to have 
to bring suit against HUD to levy on a property.

II. Points of Contact and Procedure

    HUD's FHA single family REO properties are managed and marketed out 
of four HOCs that are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, 
Georgia; Denver, Colorado; and Santa Ana, California (with counsel for 
Santa Ana being located in San Francisco).
    Tax bills, condominium and homeowner association fee billings, and 
billings for special assessments on properties owned by FHA that have 
arisen to lien status are to be sent to the attention of the director 
of the FHA REO Divisions in the HOC which has jurisdiction over the 
property that is subject to the taxes and/or fees. These bills should 
be sent in a timely manner to the appropriate HOC so that the HOC can 
remit payment promptly to avoid need for litigation to enforce any 
liens associated with such billings.
    Philadelphia HOC--has jurisdiction over properties located in 
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, District of 
Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
    The Philadelphia REO Director is the point of contact and can be 
reached by calling 1-800-CALLFHA (1-800-225-5342) or by writing to: 
Attention: Single Family HOC-REO Division, U.S.

[[Page 62088]]

Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Wanamaker Building, 
100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, PA 19107-3380.
    Atlanta HOC--has jurisdiction over properties located in Illinois, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida.
    The Atlanta REO Director is the point of contact and can be reached 
by calling 1-800-CALLFHA (1-800-225-5342) or by writing to: Attention: 
Single Family HOC-REO Division, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Five Points Plaza, 40 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA 30303-
2806.
    Denver HOC--has jurisdiction over properties located in the 
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Wyoming, 
Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 
Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
    The Denver REO Director is the point of contact and can be reached 
by calling 1-800-CALLFHA (1-800-225-5342) or by writing to: Attention: 
Single Family HOC-REO Division, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, UMB Plaza, 1670 Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80202-4801.
    Santa Ana HOC--has jurisdiction over properties located in Alaska, 
Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, California, Guam and 
Arizona.
    The Santa Ana REO Director is the point of contact and can be 
reached by calling 1-800-CALLFHA (1-800-225-5342) or by writing to: 
Attention: Single Family HOC-REO Division, U.S. Department of Housing 
and Urban Development, Santa Ana Federal Building, 34 Civic Center 
Plaza, Room 7015, Santa Ana, CA 92701-4003.
    If the addresses of the HOCs and POCs change over time, HUD will 
inform the public of such changes as promptly as possible by Federal 
Register Notice or other means of mass communication.

    Dated: October 7, 2015.
Edward L. Golding,
Principal Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Housing.
[FR Doc. 2015-26167 Filed 10-14-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P