Friday, October 25, 2013

Trying to get my refund from HUD

When I refinanced my loan back in June of this year, I had only had my original FHA loan from Bank of American for a little over 3 years.

With my original loan, I had to pay an upfront mortgage insurance fee, in addition to the monthly mortgage insurance payments I was required to make because I did not put down 20% when I purchased my condo. The upfront fee was to insure my loan against default and was amortized over the course of the loan.

Because I only had the loan for 3 years, i'm entitled to a refund from HUD for a portion of the fee since they no longer insure my mortgage.

  • After 24 months, you get 80% back. For 48 months, 39% back. For 72 months, 8% back. At the end of 7 years, you are not eligible for a refund. 

So i'm somewhere between 56 and 57 months into my loan when it was paid off, so I should expect a refund of some kind.

After refinancing, I received an FHA Homeowners Fact sheet to inform me how my refund would be processed.

  • My Mortgage company would notify HUD of insurance termination.
  • If I am eligible for a refund, HUD will either request Treasury to issue me a check directly, or I will be send an Application for Premium Refund or Distributed Share Payment... in which I would need to read the application, sign it, notarize it, and attach proof of ownership.
  • Then HUD would request a check from the Treasury, or ask for additional information on my part. 
While I called BOFA to make sure they sent the termination form... I miss read my FACT SHEET and thought I had to wait 120 days to contact HUD to follow up where my check was... not after I confirmed with BOFA that the letter was sent... (oops).

It's been 132 days since my loan was paid off. I called BOFA again today and they reassured me that the form was sent and received and they did (really quickly too). 

So I tried to call HUD and after pressing the buttons I was directed to an answering machine. I hung up and called again... only to get the machine again so I left a message. They I called back again and didn't press anything (like if you don't have a touch tone phone) and got the machine again. Then I just pressed zero a lot and that didn't get me a person either.

My next step was to hit the net. I went to the HUD.GOV website and searched refund and found this notice:


If you had an FHA-insured mortgage, you may be eligible for a refund from HUD/FHA.
Due to increased public interest, the Mortgage Insurance Premium Refund Support Service Center is experiencing a high volume of calls. Please be aware that the (800) 697-6967 number is up and functioning. In order to address the high volume of calls, the Service Center is in the process of having additional lines installed. Until the additional lines are in place we ask for your patience. Callers may continue to use the (800) 697-6967 number or email us at sf_premiums@hud.gov. 

Guess I'll be emailing today too...

Any tips?

2 comments:

  1. You are truly an inspiration when it comes to tracking down money owed to you. I love that you contest your property taxes and track down refunds. Just think about how much money people leave on the table because they aren't willing to put in the time to track it down. Keep it up and keep reminding the rest of us to do the same.

    Btw, I'm a frequent reader, but don't comment often. Your blog is SO helpful and inspiring to me.

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