2015-19771. Loan Guaranty: Maximum Allowable Attorney Fees

AGENCY:

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

ACTION:

Notice; correction.

SUMMARY:

On July 31, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs published a notice in the Federal Register providing information to participants in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Home Loan Guaranty program concerning the maximum attorney fees allowable in calculating the indebtedness used to determine the guaranty claim payable upon loan termination (80 FR 45718). This notice contained two administrative errors.

DATES:

These corrections will be effective as of August 12, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Andrew Trevayne, Assistant Director for Loan and Property Management (261), Loan Guaranty Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC 20420, [phone] (Not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In the Federal Register of July 31, 2015, FR Doc. # 2015-18762, the table representing the Secretary's determination of the reasonable and customary cost of legal services needs to be replaced with the following table:

Jurisdiction	VA non-judicial foreclosure 1 2	VA judicial foreclosure 1 2	Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure
Alabama	$1325	N/A	$350
Alaska	1600	N/A	350
Arizona	1350	N/A	350
Arkansas	1400	N/A	350
California	1350	N/A	350
Colorado	1650	N/A	350
Connecticut	N/A	2450	350
Delaware	N/A	1800	350
District of Columbia	1200	2300	350
Florida	N/A	2800	350
Georgia	1325	N/A	350
Guam	1600	N/A	350
Hawaii	N/A	2950	350
Idaho	1150	N/A	350
Illinois	N/A	2300	350
Indiana	N/A	2050	350
Iowa	850	1880	350
Kansas	N/A	1800	350
Kentucky	N/A	2250	350
Louisiana	N/A	1900	350
Maine	N/A	2300	350
Maryland	2400	N/A	350
Massachusetts	N/A	2550	350
Michigan	1425	N/A	350
Minnesota	1450	N/A	350
Mississippi	1200	N/A	350
Missouri	1350	N/A	350
Montana	1150	N/A	350
Nebraska	1150	N/A	350
Nevada	1525	N/A	350
New Hampshire	1350	N/A	350
New Jersey	N/A	2975	350
New Mexico	N/A	2000	350
New York—Western Counties 3	N/A	2675	350
New York—Eastern Counties	N/A	3475	350
North Carolina	1575	N/A	350
North Dakota	N/A	1750	350
Ohio	N/A	2250	350
Oklahoma	N/A	2000	350
Oregon	1350	2600	350
Pennsylvania	N/A	2350	350
Puerto Rico	N/A	2050	350
Rhode Island	1725	N/A	350
South Carolina	N/A	1650	350
South Dakota	N/A	2200	350
Tennessee	1200	N/A	350
Texas	1325	N/A	350
Utah	1350	N/A	350
Vermont	N/A	2250	350
Virgin Islands	N/A	1800	350
Virginia	1350	N/A	350
Washington	1350	N/A	350
West Virginia	1150	N/A	350
Wisconsin	N/A	2000	350
Wyoming	1150	N/A	350
1 When a foreclosure is stopped due to circumstances beyond the control of the holder or its attorney (including, but not limited to bankruptcy, VA-requested delay, property damage, hazardous conditions, condemnation, natural disaster, property seizure, or relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) and then restarted, VA will allow a $350 restart fee in addition to the base foreclosure attorney fee. This fee recognizes the additional work required to resume the foreclosure action, while also accounting for the expectation that some work from the previous action may be utilized in starting the new action.
2 VA will allow attorney fees of $650 (Chapter 7) or $850 (initial Chapter 13) for obtaining bankruptcy releases directly related to loan termination. For additional requests for relief filed under each bankruptcy chapter, VA will allow an additional $250.
3 Western Counties of New York for VA are: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates. The remaining counties are in Eastern New York.

Second, in the last sentence of the Supplementary Information section of the published Notice, on page 1, reference was made to Paragraph (b)(5)(ii) of section 34.4314. Change this reference to section 36.4314 vs. 34.4314.

Dated: August 6, 2015.

Michael Shores,

Chief, Impact Analyses, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of the General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.