Budget Activity 3: Housing Programs

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

BUDGET ACTIVITY 3: HOUSING PROGRAMS

The consolidated discussion for the appropriation "Salaries and Expenses, HUD" is shown in Part 3 of these Justifications. All data are presented on a comparable basis for the three fiscal years: 1998, 1999, and 2000.

SUMMARY OF BUDGET REQUEST

For fiscal year 2000, Housing's Salaries and Expenses Budget request is for $1,200,000 in contract funds and $2,981,000 in travel funds. This represents no change in either contract funds or travel funds over the current estimate for fiscal year 1999.

Housing revitalized its programs, organizations and priorities in fiscal year 1998 as part of HUD's overall management reform for HUD 2020. During fiscal years 1999 and 2000, Housing will, in collaboration with its partners and other HUD program areas, continue to direct its resources to restoring public trust by concentrating on the implementation of its core business.

Housing's Salaries and Expenses contracts support the long-standing statutory requirements of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the Non-Citizen Rule as well as the enforcement of programmatic requirements and the expansion of home ownership for all Americans--especially in the population of potential first-time home buyers.

Housing's travel budget will continue to be used to support timely program implementation, to assure quality underwriting and to provide the level of programmatic and regulatory oversight which will help restore public confidence in Housing programs serving American families and their communities.

SCOPE OF ACTIVITY

The Housing staff is responsible for implementing legislation which authorizes the Department to assist projects for occupancy by very low-income, low-income and moderate-income households, to provide capital grants to nonprofit sponsors for the development of housing for the elderly or handicapped, to underwrite mortgage or loan insurance to finance new construction, rehabilitation or the purchase of existing dwelling units, and to conduct several regulatory functions. The legislation includes:

  • The U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended, which authorizes rental assistance to certain lower-income households under Section 8 of the Act;

  • The National Housing Act, as amended, which authorizes the provision of mortgage or loan insurance for single family and multifamily housing and for health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes;

  • Sections 201 and 203 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978, as amended, which govern the management and disposition of multifamily housing projects;

  • Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as amended, which authorizes capital grants and rental assistance for the development of housing for the elderly or handicapped;

  • Section 811 of the National Affordable Housing Act which authorizes capital grants and rental assistance for the development of housing for the disabled;

  • Title IV of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978, as amended, which authorizes the Congregate Housing Services program;

  • Section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, as amended, which authorizes rent supplements on behalf of needy tenants living in privately owned, privately operated and privately financed housing;

  • The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, as amended, which requires developers of subdivisions to file registration statements with the Secretary;

  • The National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, which authorizes HUD to develop and enforce construction and safety standards for all manufactured homes sold in the United States; and

  • The Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act of 1974, as amended, which authorizes the regulation of certain lending practices and settlement and closing procedures in Federally related mortgage transactions to eliminate unnecessary costs and to minimize difficulties of settlement.

WORKLOAD

The principal workload for Housing staff, partners and contractors is:

  • encouraging the development of affordable rental housing by insuring mortgages on both new and existing apartment buildings;

  • supporting the provision of community-based health care and economic development by insuring mortgages on hospitals and other health-care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities;

  • reengineering the portfolio of project-based Section 8 assistance so that FHA losses will be minimized and all projects will be financially viable with market-rate rents;

  • developing underwriting standards, making actuarial determinations, and establishing fees and premiums for mortgage insurance for homes and projects and other financial and related assistance authorized by the National Housing Act;

  • collecting FHA mortgage insurance premiums, processing and accounting for premiums, refunds to lenders/homeowners and insurance premium claims, providing financial/accounting services for assigned loans, HUD-insured/HUD-held mortgages/notes, real property acquisitions/dispositions and asset sales for Single Family/Multifamily/Title I insured programs;

  • managing FHA financial assets through loan sales, debt restructuring and other loss mitigation initiatives;

  • performing property disposition activities which include supervision of Real Estate Asset Managers, rehabilitation of acquired properties, management of the property inventory and the sale of HUD-owned properties;

  • providing debt management and collection services to recover debts owed to the Federal Government arising from FHA insurance and loan programs, and other HUD programs;

  • performing preapplication and other review activities through to construction completion, execution and closing of contracts and mortgages;

  • participating in the analysis, review, and evaluation of HUD-insured and other multifamily projects during the construction and occupancy stages;

  • reviewing and monitoring multifamily projects including analyzing operating statements, annual financial reports and inspecting the physical condition of projects to ensure that appropriate management activities are conducted as well as enforcing the terms and conditions of contracts between HUD and participants;

  • reviewing and monitoring State agency administration of Federal housing programs;

  • setting standards and providing oversight for servicing and managing the disposition of HUD-insured and HUD-held mortgages for Single Family and Multifamily insurance programs, negotiating forbearance agreements, and handling assignments of mortgages;

  • developing and managing housing programs for the elderly and disabled;

  • developing new instructions and issuances and revising existing issuances such as Annual Adjustment Factors for the Section 8 program;

  • managing short-term contract renewals, opt-outs and replacement subsidies for expiring Section 8 project-based subsidy contracts;

  • directing special initiatives such as Neighborhood Networks and the Safe Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP), which require coordination with owners, managers, residents, community groups, local businesses and providers of social and educational services;

  • providing programmatic regulation of the mortgage finance activities of Government Service Enterprises (GSE) by establishing, monitoring and enforcing housing goals, approving new programs, establishing additional fair lending requirements, and expanding awareness of the GSE's mortgage purchase activities;

  • monitoring and reviewing the performance of mortgage lenders and other program participants for compliance with Federal housing program requirements under the National Housing Act, including approving lenders for participation;

  • endorsing mortgages which have been processed by approved FHA Title I lenders for Single Family;

  • certifying or recertifying housing counseling agencies;

  • developing and enforcing the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards which require extensive coordination with State agencies, industry and consumer groups to regulate over one-third of the total U.S. Single Family housing production;

  • examining registration statements and other required material from developers of subdivisions involved in interstate commerce to determine their formal and legal adequacy and issuing exemption orders and advisory opinions under the Interstate Land Sales Registration Act;

  • protecting consumers of real estate settlement services by requiring disclosures of settlement costs;

  • performing reviews of single family case files to ensure compliance with laws and regulations; and

  • providing technical support to HUD counterparts, non-profits and State and local municipalities.

STAFF FUNCTIONS

1. HEADQUARTERS STAFF FUNCTIONS

Headquarters staff have the responsibility for performing the following principal functions:

  • developing, revising and evaluating program and policy recommendations for all Housing programs;

  • directing and coordinating the administration of all Housing programs and providing technical assistance and procedural guidance to the Field staff;

  • monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating Field program operations and reviewing administrative practices of local agencies to ensure that programs are managed efficiently and that services and assistance are provided as intended;

  • operating and evaluating national origination and asset disposition strategies;

  • providing credit reform loan and loan guarantee cost estimates, performance measures, and accounting and financial reporting to comply with requirements of laws and regulations pertaining to FHA programs, financial reporting and financial audits;

  • providing actuarial and debt management support for FHA programs to ensure the fiscal health of these funds;

  • providing administrative, budgetary contract administration support for Housing programs;

  • administering regulatory functions of the Department as required; and

  • providing budget formulation and execution support for Housing's Programs and Salaries and Expenses to ensure proper fiscal control and resource management.

2.FIELD STAFF FUNCTIONS

a.PRODUCTION

(1.)Single Family

  • working in partnership with lenders, home builders, real estate brokers, State and local governments, non-profits and other members of the residential mortgage market to expand and maintain affordable homeownership opportunities by insuring mortgages on existing and new one-to-four family homes; and

  • insuring, monitoring and reviewing the mortgages originated and underwritten by approved lenders and performing marketing and outreach activities associated with loan production.

(2.)Multifamily

  • working directly with mortgage lending partners and reinsurers, sponsors, developers, state and local governments, and mortgagees in the preparation, review, and approval of applications for grants, and mortgage insurance; and

  • processing the initial inquiry about obtaining program assistance and continuing through the review and approval of applications, the execution of assistance contracts, the inspection and completion of construction, and the closing of loans and grants, execution of Project Rental Assistance contracts, issuance of FHA commitments and endorsements of mortgage insurance.

B.ASSET MANAGEMENT and REAL ESTATE OWNED

(1.)Single Family

  • preserving the quality and fiscal integrity of FHA insured housing including the disposition of Secretary-held properties and mortgages;

  • developing and monitoring lender loss-mitigation techniques and procedures;

  • managing and servicing of FHA-insured and Secretary-held mortgages;

  • managing and disposing of HUD-owned properties;

  • reviewing servicing mortgagees for compliance with FHA guidelines and statutory requirements; and

  • monitoring the housing counseling activities of all HUD-approved counseling agencies.

(2)Multifamily

  • working with residents, owners and communities to make HUD assisted/insured properties better places to live and credits to the surrounding neighborhoods;

  • preserving the housing quality and fiscal integrity of HUD assisted/subsidized/insured housing programs; and

  • managing and servicing HUD-insured and HUD-held mortgages, including the disposition of HUD-held properties and mortgages, managing Housing's subsidized programs, and managing the Direct Loan and grants portfolios.

C.COMPTROLLER/FINANCIAL OPERATIONS CENTER

  • providing asset recovery services including debt management and collection of FHA assets;

  • providing asset management services to Headquarters and the field including identifying causes of delinquency and debt, and recommending methods to improve debt management and increase collections;

  • supporting asset sales by providing pre-sale analysis of proposed sales portfolio, marketing the asset sales program to potential bidders, and providing post sales support to reconcile data; and

  • providing servicing support for the Title I Program.

CONTRACTS

The principal Salaries and Expenses contract categories for the Office of Housing are: Technical Services, Data and Statistical Services, Management Studies, and Public Information Services. The following table identifies the estimated costs in Housing for these contract categories and description of the 2000 estimate:

This contract is designed to assist in the achievement of a record high level of homeownership in the United States by the end of this century. It is a Presidential and Secretarial priority in which Housing will work with national, State and local housing partners. (Requested for 1999: $340 thousand)

b. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) ADP Support
 Service (IAA with the Federal Reserve).....................$281 Thousand

HUD is required by Congress to collect HMDA data from all mortgage banking organizations not regulated by a Federal financial organization and provide data to the Federal Reserve Board. FRB's costs are allocated back to Housing through the IAA. (Requested amount for 1999: $281 thousand)

c.Non-Citizen Rule Implementation - (IAA with Immigration and Naturalization Service).....................$62 Thousand

This is an inter-agency agreement between HUD and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for access to the INS database to implement the statutory requirement of determining the citizenship/resident status of persons receiving or applying for Housing assistance. (Requested for 1999: $62 thousand)

d. Legal Services.....................$50 Thousand

This contract assists Housing and OMHAR in addressing legal issues in connection with the FHA single and multifamily programs administered by the A/S for Housing as well as mortgage restructuring work performed by OMHAR. (Requested for 1999: $50 thousand)

e. Residential Relocation .....................$135 Thousand

This contract furnishes resident families with relocation data as well as assistance/services to physically move them to new decent/safe/sanitary housing that meets the requirements of any Section 8 certificate or voucher. (Requested for 1999: $135 thousand)

f. Project Management and Software for Project Management..................... $0 Thousand

This contract will provide Housing with the technical training and expertise to manage system projects. Staff will gain knowledge of principles, methods, tools and techniques for planning and control of objective work/projects. (Requested for 1999: $90 thousand)

g. Technology Integration, Technical Writing

and Other Support.....................$105 Thousand

This item combines the funding requirements for contracts for technical writing, for the development of strategies that integrate technology into the implementation of Housing programs, and other support as needed. (Requested for 1999: $15 thousand)

2. Data and Statistical Services.....................$202 Thousand

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data Survey.....................$202 Thousand

This contract provides support for conducting a survey of all unregulated mortgage companies as well as lenders doing business under FHA programs. This work is Congressionally mandated with prescribed deadlines. (Requested for 1999: $202 thousand)

  • Public Information Services.....................$25 Thousand

    • Public Information Contracts .....................$25 Thousand

    This item combines the funding requirement for contracts to provide short-term assistance with the preparation of public information. (Requested for 1999: $25 thousand)

    TRAVEL

    The table below identifies travel requirements for the Office of Housing:

    The fiscal year 2000 travel estimate of $2,981,000 represents no increase over the current estimate for fiscal year 1999.

     
    Content Archived: January 20, 2009