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December 2023 » thefivestar.com 71 December 2023 J O U R N A L FHA EXTENDS FORECLOSURE PROTECTIONS TO VICTIMS OF MAUI WILDFIRES T he Federal Housing Administra- tion (FHA) has extended its exist- ing disaster-related foreclosure moratorium in Maui County, Hawaii, through May 6, 2024, for borrowers with FHA-insured single-family mortgages, including seniors with Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). This extension by the FHA, as outlined in Mortgagee Letter 2023-19, provides additional time for borrow- ers in the process of recovering from the unprecedented challenges of the catastrophic Maui wildfires to consult with mortgage servicers and housing counselors and to access federal, state, and local housing resources without also having to contend with the burden of an impending foreclosure action. "When I visited Maui in September, I saw firsthand the damage inflicted by the devastating wildfires. The people of Maui are resilient, but they will need support for years to come to rebuild and recover," HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman said. "With today's an- nouncement, we are assuring homeown- ers in Maui that HUD is here to support them as they navigate next steps with their family." FHA implemented an automatic 90-day foreclosure moratorium that required mortgage servicers to halt the initiation or completion of all foreclosure actions in Maui County on August 10, 2023, when the disaster occurred. The moratorium was originally set to expire on November 8, 2023. In addition to extending the foreclo- sure moratorium through May 6, 2024, in Mortgagee Letter 2023-19, FHA is also ex- tending the deadline dates for servicers to perform certain legal actions related to foreclosure for an additional 180 days following the end of the foreclosure moratorium. "We remain committed to doing everything we can to help the residents of Maui as they begin to rebuild their homes and lives," said Federal Housing Commis- sioner Julia R. Gordon. "The last thing any FHA borrower there should have to worry about right now is foreclosure." In late August, HUD awarded $1.3 million to the state of Hawaii to support people experiencing homelessness— those living in an emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a place not meant for human habitation—and people at risk of homelessness through HUD's Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) program. The funding was awarded to assist communities in Maui in the wake of recent wildfires. According to NPR, authorities in Ha- waii have adjusted the number of deaths from the Maui wildfires down to at least 97 people, as officials previously said they believed at least 115 people had died in the fire. Further testing showed they had multiple DNA samples from some of the victims. The number of those who were missing fell from 41 to 31, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said. Estimates from CoreLogic found that more than 3,100 residential homes with an excess of $1.3 billion in total recon- struction cost value within preliminary wildfire perimeters were damaged. CFPB EXAMINES STATE COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT LAWS T he Consumer Financial Protec- tion Bureau (CFPB) has pub- lished a new analysis on state Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) laws, State Community Reinvestment Acts: Summary of State Laws, highlighting how states ensure financial institu- tions' lending, services, and investment activities meet the credit needs of their communities. The CFPB's report examined the laws of seven states (Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia, and found that many of those states adopted laws similar to the federal Community Reinvestment Act in decades following the 1977 passage of the landmark federal anti-redlining law. "The financial market has changed considerably since the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act, and nonanks are now capturing a large share of the mortgage market," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said. "States have responded by creating reinvestment obligations for mortgage companies and have tailored state reinvestment requirements to meet the needs of their local communities." While the federal Community Reinvestment Act law applies strictly to banks, state reinvestment laws can apply to a wide range of financial institutions, including nonbank mortgage companies. Banks now originate and hold a much smaller share of outstanding mortgage debt than they did when the legislation was originally enacted. In 1977, banks held 74% of outstanding mortgage debt.