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(5) the availability of a uniform and more expeditious procedure for the foreclosure of these mortgages by the Secretary and continuation of the practice of not applying postsale redemption periods to such mortgages will tend to ameliorate these conditions; and

(6) providing the Secretary with a nonjudicial foreclosure procedure will reduce unnecessary litigation by removing many foreclosures from the courts where they contribute to overcrowded calendars.

(b) The purpose of this part is to create a uniform Federal foreclosure remedy for multifamily mortgages.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 363. [12 U.S.C. 3702] As used in this part

(1) "mortgage" means a deed of trust, mortgage, deed to secure debt, security agreement, or any other form of instrument under which any interest in property, real, personal or mixed, or any interest in property including leaseholds, life estates, reversionary interests, and any other estates under applicable State law, is conveyed in trust, mortgaged, encumbered, pledged, or otherwise rendered subject to a lien, for the purpose of securing the payment of money or the performance of an obligation;

(2) "multifamily mortgage" means a mortgage held by the Secretary pursuant to

(A) section 608 or 801, or title II or X, of the National Housing Act;

(B) section 312 of the Housing Act of 1964, as it existed immediately before its repeal by section 289 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act;

(C) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as it existed immediately before its amendment by section 801 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act;

(D) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as amended by section 801 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act; and

(E) section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.

(3) "mortgage agreement" means the note or debt instrument and the mortgage instrument, deed of trust instrument, trust deed, or instrument or instruments creating the mortgage, including any instrument incorporated by reference therein (including any applicable regulatory agreement), and any instrument or agreement amending or modifying any of the foregoing;

(4) "mortgagor" means the obligor, grantor, or trustor named in the mortgage agreement and, unless the contest otherwise indicates, includes the current owner of record of the security property whether or not personally liable on the mortgage debt;

(5) "person" includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, or organization;

(6) "record" and "recorded" include "register" and "registered" in the instance of registered land;

(7) "security property" means the property, real, personal or mixed, or an interest in property, including leaseholds, life estates, reversionary interests, and any other estates under applicable State law, together with fixtures and other interests subject to the lien of the mortgage under applicable State law;

(8) "State" means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and possessions of the United States, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and Indian tribes as defined by the Secretary; (9) "county" means county as defined in section 2 of title I, United States Code; and

(10) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

APPLICABILITY

SEC. 364. [12 U.S.C. 3703] Multifamily mortgages held by the Secretary encumbering real estate located in any State may be foreclosed by the Secretary in accordance with this part, or pursuant to other foreclosure procedures available, at the option of the Secretary. If the Secretary forecloses on any such mortgage pursuant to such other foreclosure procedures available, the provisions of section 367(b) may be applied at the discretion of the Secretary.

DESIGNATION OF FORECLOSURE COMMISSIONER

SEC. 365. [12 U.S.C. 3704] A foreclosure commissioner or commissioners designated pursuant to this part shall have a nonjudicial power of sale as provided in this part. Where the Secretary is the holder of a multi-family mortgage, the Secretary may designate a foreclosure commissioner and, with or without cause, may designate a substitute foreclosure commissioner to replace a previously designated foreclosure commissioner, by executing a duly acknowledged, written designation stating the name and business or residential address of the commissioner or substitute commissioner. The designation shall be effective upon execution. Except as provided in section 368(b), a copy of the designation shall be mailed with each copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale served by mail in accordance with section 369(1). The foreclosure commissioner, if a natural person, shall be a resident of the State in which the security property is located and, if not a natural person, the foreclosure commissioner must be duly authorized to transact business under the laws of the State in which the security property is located. The foreclosure commissioner shall be a person who is responsible, financially sound and competent to conduct the foreclosure. More than one foreclosure commissioner may be designated. If a natural person is designated as foreclosure commissioner or substitute foreclosure commissioner, such person shall be designated by name, except that where such person is designated in his or her capacity as an official or employee of the government of the State or subdivision thereof in which the security property is located, such person may be designated by his or her unique title or position instead of by name. The Secretary shall be a guarantor

of payment of any judgment against the foreclosure commissioner for damages based upon the commissioner's failure properly to perform the commissioner's duties. As between the Secretary and the mortgagor, the Secretary shall bear the risk of any financial default by the foreclosure commissioner. In the event that the Secretary makes any payment pursuant to the preceding two sentences, the Secretary shall be fully subrogated to the rights satisfied by such payment.

PREREQUISITES TO FORECLOSURE

SEC. 366. [12 U.S.C. 3705] Foreclosure by the Secretary under this part of a multi-family mortgage may be commenced, as provided in section 368, upon the breach of a covenant or condition in the mortgage agreement for which foreclosure is authorized under the mortgage, except that no such foreclosure may be commenced unless any previously pending proceeding, judicial or nonjudicial, separately instituted by the Secretary to foreclose the mortgage other than under this part has been withdrawn, dismissed, or otherwise terminated. No such separately instituted foreclosure proceeding on the mortgage shall be instituted by the Secretary during the pendency of foreclosure pursuant to this part. Nothing in this part shall preclude the Secretary from enforcing any right, other than foreclosure, under applicable State law, including any right to obtain a monetary judgment. Nothing in this part shall preclude the Secretary from foreclosing under this part where the Secretary has obtained or is seeking any other remedy available pursuant to Federal or State law or under the mortgage agreement, including, but not limited to, the appointment of a receiver, mortgagee-inpossesion status, relief under an assignment of rents, or transfer to a nonprofit entity pursuant to section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (as amended by section 801 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act) or section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.

NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND FORECLOSURE SALE

SEC. 367. [12 U.S.C. 3706] (a) The notice of default and foreclosure sale to be served in accordance with this part shall be subscribed with the name and address of the foreclosure commissioner and the date on which subscribed, and shall set forth the following information:

(1) the names of the Secretary, the original mortgagee and the original mortgagor;

(2) the street address or a description of the location of the security property, and a description of the security property, or so much thereof as is to be offered for sale, sufficient to identify the property to be sold;

(3) the date of the mortgage, the office in which the mortgage is recorded, and the liber and folio or other description of the location of recordation of the mortgage;

(4) the failure to make payment, including the due date of the earliest installment payment remaining wholly unpaid as of the date the notice is subscribed, or the description of other

default or defaults upon which foreclosure is based, and the acceleration of the secured indebtedness;

(5) the date, time, and place of the foreclosure sale;

(6) a statement that the foreclosure is being conducted pursuant to this part;

(7) the types of costs, if any, to be paid by the purchaser upon transfer of title; and

(8) the amount and method of deposit to be required at the foreclosure sale (except that no deposit shall be required of the Secretary), the time and method of payment of the balance of the foreclosure purchase price and other appropriate terms of sale.

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary may require, as a condition and term of sale, that the purchaser at a foreclosure sale under this part agree to continue to operate the security property in accordance with the terms of the program under which the mortgage insurance or assistance was provided, or any applicable regulatory or other agreement in effect with respect to such property immediately prior to the time of foreclosure sale.

(2)(A) In any case where the majority of the residential units in a property subject to such a sale are occupied by residential tenants at the time of the sale, the Secretary shall require, as a condition and term of sale, any purchaser (other than the Secretary) to operate the property in accordance with such terms, as appropriate, of the programs referred to in paragraph (1).

(B) In any case where the Secretary is the purchaser of a multifamily project, the Secretary shall manage and dispose of such project in accordance with the provisions of section 203 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978.

COMMENCEMENT OF FORECLOSURE

SEC. 368. [12 U.S.C. 3707] (a) If the Secretary as holder of a multifamily mortgage determines that the prerequisites to foreclosure set forth in section 366 are satisfied, the Secretary may request the foreclosure commissioner to commence foreclosure of the mortgage. Upon such request, the foreclosure commissioner shall commence foreclosure of the mortgage, by commencing service of a notice of default and foreclosure sale in accordance with section 369.

(b) Subsequent to commencement of a foreclosure under this part, the Secretary may designate a substitute foreclosure commissioner at any time up to forty-eight hours prior to the time of foreclosure sale, and the foreclosure shall continue without prejudice, unless the substitute commissioner, in his or her sole discretion, finds that continuation of the foreclosure sale will unfairly affect the interests of the mortgagor. In the event that the substitute commissioner makes such a finding, the substitute commissioner shall cancel the foreclosure sale, or adjourn such sale in the manner provided in section 369B(c). Upon designation of a substitute foreclosure commissioner, a copy of the written notice of such designation referred to in section 365 shall be served upon the persons set forth in section 369(1) of this part (1) by mail as provided in such section 369 (except that the minimum time periods between

mailing and the date of foreclosure sale prescribed in such section shall not apply to notice by mail pursuant to this subsection), or (2) in any other manner, which in the substitute commissioner's sole discretion, is conducive to achieving timely notice of such substitution. In the event a substitute foreclosure commissioner is designated less than forty-eight hours prior to the time of the foreclosure sale, the pending foreclosure shall be terminated and a new foreclosure shall be commenced by commencing service of a new notice of default and foreclosure sale.

SERVICE OF NOTICE OF DEFAULT AND FORECLOSURE SALE

SEC. 369. [12 U.S.C. 3708] The foreclosure commissioner shall serve the notice of default and foreclosure sale provided for in section 367 upon the following persons and in the following manner. and no additional notice shall be required to be served notwithstanding any notice requirements of any State or local law

(1) NOTICE BY MAIL.-The notice of default and foreclosure sale, together with the designation required by section 365, shall be sent by certified or registered mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, to the following persons:

(A) the current security property owner of record, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this part;

(B) the original mortgagor and all subsequent mortgagors of record or other persons who appear of record or in the mortgage agreement to be liable for part or all of the mortgage debt, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this part, except any such mortgagors or persons who have been released; and

(C) all persons holding liens of record upon the security property, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this part.

Notice under clauses (A) and (B) of this paragraph shall be mailed at least twenty-one days prior to the date of foreclosure sale, and shall be mailed to the owner or mortgagor at the address stated in the mortgage agreement, or, if none, to the address of the security property, or, at the discretion of the foreclosure commissioner, to any other address believed to be that of such owner or mortgagor. Notice under clause (C) of this paragraph shall be mailed at least ten days prior to the date of foreclosure sale, and shall be mailed to each such lienholder's address as stated of record or, at the discretion of the foreclosure commissioner, to any other address believed to be that of such lienholder. Notice by mail pursuant to this subsection or section 368(b) of this part shall be deemed duly given upon mailing, whether or not received by the addressee and whether or not a return receipt is received or the letter is returned.

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