12 U.S.C. § 1710 - Payment of insurance

• Cite as: 12 U.S.C. § 1710

(a) In general

(1) Authorized claims procedures

The Secretary may, in accordance with this subsection and terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary, pay insurance benefits to a mortgagee for any mortgage insured under section 1709 of this title through any of the following methods:

(A) Assignment of mortgage

The Secretary may pay insurance benefits whenever a mortgage has been in a monetary default for not less than 3 full monthly installments or whenever the mortgagee is entitled to foreclosure for a nonmonetary default. Insurance benefits shall be paid pursuant to this subparagraph only upon the assignment, transfer, and delivery to the Secretary of-

(i) all rights and interests arising under the mortgage;

(ii) all claims of the mortgagee against the mortgagor or others arising out of the mortgage transaction;

(iii) title evidence satisfactory to the Secretary; and

(iv) such records relating to the mortgage transaction as the Secretary may require.

(B) Conveyance of title to property

The Secretary may pay insurance benefits if the mortgagee has acquired title to the mortgaged property through foreclosure or has otherwise acquired such property from the mortgagor after a default upon-

(i) the prompt conveyance to the Secretary of title to the property which meets the standards of the Secretary in force at the time the mortgage was insured and which is evidenced in the manner provided by such standards; and

(ii) the assignment to the Secretary of all claims of the mortgagee against the mortgagor or others, arising out of mortgage transaction or foreclosure proceedings, except such claims as may have been released with the consent of the Secretary.

The Secretary may permit the mortgagee to tender to the Secretary a satisfactory conveyance of title and transfer of possession directly from the mortgagor or other appropriate grantor, and may pay to the mortgagee the insurance benefits to which it would otherwise be entitled if such conveyance had been made to the mortgagee and from the mortgagee to the Secretary.

(C) Claim without conveyance of title

The Secretary may pay insurance benefits upon sale of the mortgaged property at foreclosure where such sale is for at least the fair market value of the property (with appropriate adjustments), as determined by the Secretary, and upon assignment to the Secretary of all claims referred to in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B).

(D) Preforeclosure sale

The Secretary may pay insurance benefits upon the sale of the mortgaged property by the mortgagor after default and the assignment to the Secretary of all claims referred to in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B), if-

(i) the sale of the mortgaged property has been approved by the Secretary;

(ii) the mortgagee receives an amount at least equal to the fair market value of the property (with appropriate adjustments), as determined by the Secretary; and

(iii) the mortgagor has received an appropriate disclosure, as determined by the Secretary.

(2) Payment for loss mitigation

The Secretary may pay insurance benefits to the mortgagee to recompense the mortgagee for all or part of any costs of the mortgagee for taking loss mitigation actions that provide an alternative to foreclosure of a mortgage that is in default or faces imminent default, as defined by the Secretary (including but not limited to actions such as special forbearance, loan modification, support for borrower housing counseling, partial claims, borrower incentives, preforeclosure sale, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, but not including assignment of mortgages to the Secretary under section subsection ¹ (a)(1)(A) or section 1715u(c) of this title). No actions taken under this paragraph, nor any failure to act under this paragraph, by the Secretary or by a mortgagee shall be subject to judicial review.

(3) Determination of claims procedure

The Secretary shall publish guidelines for determining which of the procedures for payment of insurance under paragraph (1) are available to a mortgagee when it claims insurance benefits. At least one of the procedures for payment of insurance benefits specified in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(B) shall be available to a mortgagee with respect to a mortgage, but the same procedure shall not be required to be available for all of the mortgages held by a mortgagee.

(4) Servicing of assigned mortgages

If a mortgage is assigned to the Secretary under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary may permit the assigning mortgagee or its servicer to continue to service the mortgage for reasonable compensation and on terms and conditions determined by the Secretary. Neither the Secretary nor any servicer of the mortgage shall be required to forbear from collection of amounts due under the mortgage or otherwise pursue loss mitigation measures.

(5) Calculation of insurance benefits

Insurance benefits shall be paid in accordance with section 1735d of this title and shall be equal to the original principal obligation of the mortgage (with such additions and deductions as the Secretary determines are appropriate) which was unpaid upon the date of-

(A) assignment of the mortgage to the Secretary;

(B) the institution of foreclosure proceedings;

(C) the acquisition of the property after default other than by foreclosure; or

(D) sale of the mortgaged property by the mortgagor.

(6) Forbearance and recasting after default

The mortgagee may, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe-

(A) extend the time for the curing of the default and the time for commencing foreclosure proceedings or for otherwise acquiring title to the mortgaged property, to such time as the mortgagee determines is necessary and desirable to enable the mortgagor to complete the mortgage payments, including an extension of time beyond the stated maturity of the mortgage, and in the event of a subsequent foreclosure or acquisition of the property by other means the Secretary may include in the amount of insurance benefits an amount equal to any unpaid mortgage interest; or

(B) provide for a modification of the terms of the mortgage for the purpose of recasting, over the remaining term of the mortgage or over such longer period pursuant to guidelines as may be prescribed by the Secretary, the total unpaid amount then due, with the modification to become effective currently or to become effective upon the termination of an agreed-upon extension of the period for curing the default; and the principal amount of the mortgage, as modified, shall be considered the "original principal obligation of the mortgage" for purposes of paragraph (5).

(7) Termination of premium obligation

The obligation of the mortgagee to pay the premium charges for insurance shall cease upon fulfillment of the appropriate requirements under which the Secretary may pay insurance benefits, as described in paragraph (1). The Secretary may also terminate the mortgagee's obligation to pay mortgage insurance premiums upon receipt of an application filed by the mortgagee for insurance benefits under paragraph (1), or in the event the contract of insurance is terminated pursuant to section 1715t of this title.

(8) Effect on payment of insurance benefits under section 1715u

Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Secretary to pay insurance benefits under section 1715u of this title.

(9) Treatment of mortgage assignment program

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or the Amended Stipulation entered as a consent decree on November 8, 1979, in Ferrell v. Cuomo, No. 73 C 334 (N.D. Ill.), or any other order intended to require the Secretary to operate the program of mortgage assignment and forbearance that was operated by the Secretary pursuant to the Amended Stipulation and under the authority of section 1715u of this title, prior to its amendment by section 407(b) of The Balanced Budget Downpayment Act, I ( Public Law 104-99; 110 Stat. 45), no mortgage assigned under this section may be included in any mortgage foreclosure avoidance program that is the same or substantially equivalent to such a program of mortgage assignment and forbearance.

(b) Consent to release of mortgagor or property

The Secretary may at any time, under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, consent to the release of the mortgagor from his liability under the mortgage or the credit instrument secured thereby, or consent to the release of parts of the mortgaged property from the lien of the mortgage.

(c) Debentures; form and amounts

Debentures issued under this section-

(1) shall be in such form and amounts;

(2) shall be subject to such terms and conditions;

(3) shall include such provisions for redemption, if any, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; and

(4) may be in book entry or certificated registered form, or such other form as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may prescribe in regulations.

(d) Debentures; issuance; negotiability; terms; tax exemptions

The debentures issued under this section to any mortagee ² with respect to mortgages insured under section 1709 of this title shall be issued in the name of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund as obligor and shall be negotiable, and, if in book entry form, transferable, in the manner described by the Secretary in regulations. All such debentures shall be dated as of the date foreclosure proceedings were instituted, or the property was otherwise acquired by the mortgagee after default: Provided, That debentures issued pursuant to claims for insurance filed on or after September 2, 1964 shall be dated as of the date of default or as of such later date as the Secretary, in his discretion, may establish by regulation. The debentures shall bear interest from such date at a rate established by the Secretary pursuant to section 1715o of this title, payable semiannually on the 1st day of January and the 1st day of July of each year, and shall mature twenty years after the date thereof. Such debentures as are issued in exchange for property covered by mortgages insured under section 1709 or section 1713 of this title prior to February 3, 1938 shall be subject only to such Federal, State, and local taxes as the mortgages in exchange for which they are issued would be subject to in the hands of the holder of the debentures and shall be a liability of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, but such debentures shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States; but any mortgagee entitled to receive any such debentures may elect to receive in lieu thereof a cash adjustment and debentures issued as hereinafter provided and bearing the current rate of interest. Such debentures as are issued in exchange for property covered by the mortgages insured after February 3, 1938, shall be exempt, both as to principal and interest, from all taxation (except surtaxes, estate, inheritance, and gift taxes) now or hereafter imposed by the United States, by any Territory, dependency, or possession thereof, or by any State, county, municipality, or local taxing authority; and such debentures shall be paid out of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which shall be primarily liable therefor, and they shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States, and, in the case of debentures issued in certificated registered form, such guaranty shall be expressed on the face of the debentures. In the event that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund fails to pay upon demand, when due, the principal of or interest on any debentures issued under this section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the holders the amount thereof which is authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and thereupon to the extent of the amount so paid the Secretary of the Treasury shall succeed to all the rights of the holders of such debentures.