Pennsylvania Code › Title 12 - COMMERCE, TRADE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT › Part I - General Administration › Subpart D - Housing Finance Agency › Chapter 31 - HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY › Subchapter B - POLICY STATEMENT ON HOMEOWNER'S EMERGENCY MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM › Section 31.201 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this
						subchapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
						otherwise:
Act 91 Notice
-The notice of intention to
						foreclose required to be sent to a mortgagor prior to the filing of a
						foreclosure action under the act in the form prescribed in this
						subchapter.
Applicant
-A person who has received the
						notice described in Appendix A and who has submitted an application to the
						Agency under this subchapter.
Consumer credit counseling agency
-A
						nonprofit corporation or governmental entity located in this Commonwealth which
						has been designated by the Agency to provide Homeowner's Emergency Mortgage
						Assistance Program counseling. A qualified consumer credit counseling agency
						shall either be certified as a housing counseling agency by the United States
						Department of Housing and Urban Development or otherwise be determined
						acceptable by the Agency. A list of counseling agencies approved by the Agency
						is set forth in Appendix C. This list was last updated and includes all changes
						through April 1, 2016. Future updates of this list will only appear on the
						Agency's web site at
www.phfa.org
, and will
						be updated on a periodic basis as changes occur. The Agency will annually
						publish a schedule for updates to the list, and mortgagees will be expected to
						update their lists in accordance with the schedule.
Face-to-face meeting
-A meeting conducted
						either in-person or remotely using technological means, through which the
						applicant and consumer credit counseling agency communicate with each other
						contemporaneously, both audibly and visually.
Gross household income
-The total income
						of the applicant, all other owners-occupants of the residence, any spouse and
						children residing in the same household as the applicant and other residents of
						the household declared by the mortgagor as dependents for Federal tax purposes.
						The term does not include the income of minor children. The income of adult
						children or other unrelated individuals residing in the household shall be
						considered part of gross household income only to the extent that their income
						is available to the household.
Homeowner
-The owner occupant of a one-
						or two-family residential structure or the owner-occupant of a cooperative or
						condominium unit who is also the borrower, debtor or obligor on a mortgage
						encumbering the residence. The term is interchangeable with the term
						"mortgagor."
Installment sales contract or agreement
-An agreement or contract under which the seller of residential real property
						conveys ownership of or an equitable interest in real estate which constitutes
						the principal residence of the buyer wherein the seller finances the purchase
						by the buyer through contract, agreement, note or other security interest, if
						that contract or agreement does not constitute a default under the terms of a
						pre-existing mortgage between the seller and the seller's mortgagee.
Mortgage
-A lien, other than a judgment,
						on a fee simple or leasehold interest in real property which constitutes the
						principal residence of the mortgagor, obligor or debtor, located in this
						Commonwealth together with credit instruments secured thereby. The term
						includes an installment sales agreement or installment sales contract. The term
						also includes an obligation evidenced by a security lien on real property upon
						which an owner-occupied mobile home is located.
Mortgagee
-A lender whose debt is secured
						by a mortgage.
Mortgagor
-The owner occupant of a one-
						or two-family residential structure or the occupant of a cooperative or
						condominium unit who is also the borrower, debtor or obligor on a mortgage
						encumbering the residence. This term is interchangeable with the term
						"homeowner."
Net effective income
-Gross household
						income less city, State and Federal income and Social Security taxes.
Noncorporate seller
-A person holding a
						mortgage who is not a bank, a savings and loan association, a mortgage bank, a
						consumer discount company or other entity in the mortgage lending
						business.
Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs
-Fees for legal services and reasonable and necessary costs related thereto,
						which are actually incurred by a mortgagee, in commencing or pursuing an action
						of mortgage foreclosure. The Agency will reimburse lenders for reasonable
						attorneys' fees and reasonable and necessary costs, which are actually incurred
						by a mortgagee, in commencing or pursuing an action of mortgage foreclosure and
						which meet the requirements or limitations on the Agency's web site at
www.phfa.org
. The Agency will reimburse
						lenders based upon a reasonable hourly rate as may be established by the Agency
						annually and published by the Agency in the
Pennsylvania
						Bulletin
.
Total housing expense
-The sum of the
						mortgagor's monthly mortgage payments, including escrows, utility costs, hazard
						insurance expenses, real property taxes and, in the case of cooperatives and
						condominiums, the maintenance expense shall consist of the monthly amount the
						unit is assessed for the maintenance of common elements.