2023-09871. Notice of HUD Vacant Loan Sales (HVLS 2023-1)

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces HUD's intention to competitively offer approximately 1,237 reverse mortgage notes secured by vacant properties with a loan balance of approximately $318 million. The sale will consist of due and payable Secretary-held reverse mortgage loans. The mortgage loans consist of first liens secured by single family, vacant residential properties, where all borrowers are deceased, and no borrower is survived by a non-borrowing spouse. The Secretary will prioritize up to 50 percent of the offered assets for award to nonprofit organizations or governmental entity bidders with a documented housing mission. This notice also generally describes the bidding process for the sale and certain entities who are ineligible to bid. This is the tenth sale offering of its type and will be held on May 23, 2023.

DATES:

For this sale action, the Bidder's Information Package (BIP) will be made available to qualified bidders on or about April 24, 2023. Bids for the HVLS 2023–1 sale will be accepted on the Bid Date of May 23, 2023 prior to 12:00 ET (Bid Date). HUD anticipates that award(s) will be made on or about May 25, 2023 (the Award Date).

ADDRESSES:

To become an eligible bidder and receive the BIP for the May sale, prospective bidders must complete, execute, and submit a Confidentiality Agreement and Qualification Statement acceptable to HUD. The documents will be available in preview form with free login on the Transaction Specialist (TS), Falcon Capital Advisors, website: http://www.falconassetsales.com. This website contains information and links to register for the sale and electronically complete and submit documents.

If you do not submit electronically, please submit executed documents via mail or facsimile to Falcon Capital Advisors: Falcon Capital Advisors, 427 N Lee Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, Attention: Glenn Ervin, HUD HVLS Loan Sale Coordinator. eFax: 1–202–393–4125.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Lucey, Director, Office of Asset Sales, Room 3136, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20410–8000; telephone [phone], extension 3927 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone call, please visit: https:// www.fcc.gov/​consumers/​guides/​telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice announces HUD's intention to sell in HVLS 2023–1 due and payable Secretary-held reverse mortgage loans. HUD is offering 1,237 reverse mortgage notes with a loan balance of approximately $318 million. The mortgage loans consist of first liens secured by single family, vacant residential properties, where all borrowers are deceased, and no borrower is survived by a non-borrowing spouse.

A listing of the mortgage loans will be included in the due diligence materials made available to eligible bidders. The mortgage loans will be sold without FHA insurance and with servicing released. HUD will offer eligible bidders an opportunity to bid competitively on the mortgage loans.

The Bidding Process

The BIP describes in detail the procedure for bidding in HVLS 2023–1. The BIP also includes a standardized non-negotiable Conveyance, Assignment and Assumption Agreement for HVLS 2023–1 (CAA). The CAA will contain first look requirements and mission outcome goals.

HUD will evaluate the bids submitted and determine the successful bids, in terms of the best value to HUD, in its sole and absolute discretion. If a bidder is successful, it will be required to submit a deposit which will be calculated based upon the total dollar value of the bidder's potential award. Award will be contingent on receiving the deposit in the timeframe outlined in the deposit letter. The deposit amount will be applied towards the purchase price at settlement.

This notice provides some of the basic terms of sale. The CAA will be released in the BIP or BIP Supplement, as applicable. These documents provide comprehensive contractual terms and conditions to which eligible bidders will acknowledge and agree. To ensure a competitive bidding process, the terms of the bidding process and the CAA are not subject to negotiation.

Due Diligence Review

The BIP describes how eligible bidders may access the due diligence materials remotely via a high-speed internet connection.

Mortgage Loan Sale Policy

HUD reserves the right to remove mortgage loans from a sale at any time prior to the Award Date and the settlement date for the mortgage loans. HUD also reserves the right to reject any and all bids, in whole or in part, and include any reverse mortgage loans in a later sale. Deliveries of mortgage loans will occur in conjunction with settlement and servicing transfer no later than 60 days after the Award Date.

The reverse mortgage loans offered for sale were insured by and were assigned to HUD pursuant to section 255 of the National Housing Act, as amended. The sale of the reverse mortgage loans is pursuant to HUD's authority in section 204(g) of the National Housing Act.

Mortgage Loan Sale Procedure

HUD selected an open competitive whole-loan sale as the method to sell the reverse mortgage loans for this specific sale transaction. For the HVLS 2023–1 sale, HUD has determined that this method of sale optimizes HUD's return on the sale of these reverse mortgage loans, affords the greatest opportunity for all eligible bidders to bid on the reverse mortgage loans, and provides the quickest and most efficient vehicle for HUD to dispose of the due and payable reverse mortgage loans.

Bidder Ineligibility

In order to bid in HVLS 2023–1 as an eligible bidder, a prospective bidder must complete, execute, and submit a Confidentiality Agreement, a Qualification Statement (HUD–9611), and an Addendum for Nonprofit and Government Pools and Sub-pools (HUD–9612), as applicable (collectively, for these bidders, the Qualification Statement (HUD–9611) and Addendum for Nonprofit and Government Pools and Sub-pools (HUD–9612), as applicable, shall be defined as the Qualification Statement) that is acceptable to HUD. Eligible bidders seeking to be awarded loans on a priority basis must submit the Confidentiality Agreement, Qualification Statement (HUD–9611), and Addendum for Nonprofit and Government Pools and Sub-pools (HUD–9612), and Housing Mission Supplemental Certification (collectively, for these bidders, the Qualification Statement (HUD–9611) and Addendum for Nonprofit and Government Pools and Sub-pools (HUD–9612), and Housing Mission Supplemental Certification shall be defined as the Qualification Statement), that is acceptable to HUD. In the Qualification Statement, the prospective bidder must provide certain representations and warranties regarding the prospective bidder, including (i) the prospective bidder's board of directors, (ii) the prospective bidder's direct parent, (iii) the prospective bidder's subsidiaries, (iv) any related entity with which the prospective bidder shares a common officer, director, subcontractor or sub-contractor who has access to Confidential Information as defined in the Confidentiality Agreement or is involved in the formation of a bid transaction (collectively the “Related Entities”), and (v) the prospective bidder's repurchase lenders. The prospective bidder is ineligible to bid on any of the reverse mortgage loans included in HVLS 2023–1 if the prospective bidder, its Related Entities, or its repurchase lenders, are any of the following, unless other exceptions apply as provided for in the Qualification Statement.

1. An individual or entity that is currently debarred, suspended, or excluded from doing business with HUD pursuant to the Governmentwide Suspension and Debarment regulations at 2 CFR parts 180 and 2424;

2. An individual or entity that is currently suspended, debarred, or otherwise restricted by any department or agency of the federal government or of a state government from doing business with such department or agency;

3. An individual or entity that is currently debarred, suspended, or excluded from doing mortgage related business, including having a business license suspended, surrendered or revoked, by any federal, state, or local government agency, division, or department;

4. An entity that has had its right to act as a Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”) issuer terminated and its interest in mortgages backing Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities extinguished by Ginnie Mae;

5. An individual or entity that is in violation of its neighborhood stabilizing outcome obligations or post-sale reporting requirements under a Conveyance, Assignment and Assumption Agreement executed for any previous mortgage loan sale of HUD;

6. An employee of HUD's Office of Housing, a member of such employee's household, or an entity owned or controlled by any such employee or member of such an employee's household with household to be inclusive of the employee's father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, grandparent, grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, first cousin, the spouse of any of the foregoing, and the employee's spouse;

7. A contractor, subcontractor, and/or consultant or advisor (including any agent, employee, partner, director, or principal of any of the foregoing) who performed services for or on behalf of HUD in connection with the sale;

8. An individual or entity that knowingly acquired or will acquire prior to the sale date material non-public information, other than that information which is made available to Bidder by HUD pursuant to the terms of this Qualification Statement, about mortgage loans offered in the sale;

9. An individual or entity which knowingly employs or uses the services of an employee of HUD's Office of Housing (other than in such employee's official capacity); or

10. An individual or entity that knowingly uses the services, directly or indirectly, of any person or entity ineligible under 1 through 10 to assist in preparing any of its bids on the mortgage loans.

The Qualification Statement has additional representations and warranties which the prospective bidder must make, including but not limited to the representation and warranty that the prospective bidder or its Related Entities are not and will not knowingly use the services, directly or indirectly, of any person or entity that is, any of the following (and to the extent that any such individual or entity would prevent the prospective bidder from making the following representations, such individual or entity has been removed from participation in all activities related to this sale and has no ability to influence or control individuals involved in formation of a bid for this sale):

(1) An entity or individual is ineligible to bid on any included reverse mortgage loan or on the pool containing such reverse mortgage loan because it is an entity or individual that:

(a) Serviced or held such reverse mortgage loan at any time during the six-month period prior to the bid, or

(b) Is any principal of any entity or individual described in the preceding sentence;

(c) Any employee or subcontractor of such entity or individual during that six-month period; or

(d) Any entity or individual that employs or uses the services of any other entity or individual described in this paragraph in preparing its bid on such reverse mortgage loan.

In addition, for those eligible bidders seeking to be awarded mortgage loans on a priority basis and signing the Housing Mission Supplemental Certification, each prospective bidder must provide documentation and certify that its charitable or government purpose has a qualifying housing mission and that its participation in the sale is a furtherance of that housing mission.

Freedom of Information Act Requests

HUD reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to disclose information regarding HVLS 2023–1, including, but not limited to, the identity of any successful qualified bidder and its bid price or bid percentage for any pool of loans or individual loan, upon the closing of the sale of all the mortgage loans. Even if HUD elects not to publicly disclose any information relating to HVLS 2023–1, HUD will disclose any information that HUD is obligated to disclose pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and all regulations promulgated thereunder.

Scope of Notice

This notice applies to HVLS 2023–1 and does not establish HUD's policy for the sale of other mortgage loans.

Julia R. Gordon,

Assistant Secretary for Housing FHA Commissioner.