We are considering adding the HUD notice to our past due notices (which go out roughly twelve days after the loan becomes past due). Do you see any issues with adding HUD’s verbiage to our past due notices?

No, we are not aware of issues that would prevent your institution from providing the HUD homeownership counseling notice with your past due notices.

The HUD homeownership counseling notice may be combined with other notices, such as your past due notice, and it may be provided at any  time within 45 days after an eligible borrower becomes delinquent — there is no requirement to wait until the end of that 45-day window before providing the notice.

Of course, this notice is not required if a borrower resolves the delinquency before the end of the 45-day notice period. Consequently, sending early notices may result in borrowers receiving the notice unnecessarily, for instance if a recipient brings their loan current before 45 days have lapsed.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 USC 1701x(c)(5)(A) (“Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the creditor of a loan (or proposed creditor) shall provide notice under clause (ii) [HUD’s homeownership counseling notice] to (I) any eligible homeowner who fails to pay any amount by the date the amount is due under a home loan . . . .”)
  • Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 USC 1701x(c)(5)(B) (“The notification required in subparagraph (A) shall be made . . . (ii) before the expiration of the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the failure referred to in such subparagraph occurs.”)
  • Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 USC 1701x(c)(5)(C) (“Notification under subparagraph (A) shall not be required with respect to any loan for which the eligible homeowner pays the amount overdue before the expiration of the 45-day period under subparagraph (B)(ii).”)
  • OCC Comptroller’s Handbook, Homeownership Counseling Examination Procedures (June 2011) (“The notice must be given to a delinquent homeowner borrower no later than 45 days after the date on which the homeowner becomes delinquent. If, within the 45-day period, the borrower brings the loan current again, no notification is required.”)