First, lets untangle the government-speak. Why do bureaucrats love acronyms? FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration. HUD is the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA loans are special mortgages insured by HUD that require lower down payments of just 3 to 5 percent and help people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get into a home. If this is you, there are a couple different types of unclaimed funds available.
First is a refund for paying for mortgage insurance. This would apply to you if:
If you got your FHA mortgage after September 1st 1983.
You paid for mortgage insurance up front when you closed.
You did not default on your payments while you had the loan.
The second type of HUD/FHA unclaimed money is a share of any excess earnings from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. You would be eligible for this type of refund if you:
A, originated your loan before September 1, 1983
B, paid on your loan for more than seven years and
and C, had your FHA insurance terminated before November 5, 1990.
I know, confusing. But remember: Mortgage insurance is insurance you pay that guarantees to pay off your mortgage if you stop paying. These HUD/FHA refunds are for people who either sold the house or successfully finished up the term of the mortgage without that insurance ever being needed. It’s kind of like putting down a deposit to get a secured credit card. Once you’ve proven your creditworthiness, you get that deposit back.
But here’s the best part: Even if you don’t quite get the lingo, you can search your name in HUD’s database in mere minutes. Just enter your name, FHA case number, city and state and you’ll get a thumbs up or down. And, of course, I will link you to the HUD page where you can do this search from EasyMoneySHow.com/64. Let me know how it goes!
HUD web page to search for unclaimed FHA refunds:
entp.hud.gov/dsrs/refunds/
