| Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued a temporary waiver of its policy requiring damage inspection reports for properties in Presidentially-declared Major Disaster Areas (PDMDAs) that must be completed after the closure date of an incident period as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), or at least 14-days from the start of the incident period, whichever is earlier. This temporary waiver of a second 14-day incident period applies specifically to inspection reports associated with the Hurricane Milton PDMDA (DR-4834-FL), as declared on October 11, 2024.
Due to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene and Hurricane Milton, both of which severely impacted similar regions within a 14-day period, FHA’s current policy of requiring a separate 14-day waiting period for damage inspections and reports following each event has created the potential for extensive repair/rehabilitation delays for homebuyers and sellers.
FHA believes that the presence of FEMA in areas already included in the multiple Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene PDMDAs provides enough stability and risk mitigation to eliminate the requirement for a second 14-day waiting period for inspection and damage reports associated with the Hurricane Milton PDMDA (DR-4834-FL). While this policy waves the 14-day waiting period to conduct the damage inspection report, the requirement to conduct a damage inspection report, and other inspection and repair escrow requirements, for all properties with pending mortgages or endorsements in the PDMDAs remain the same.
In summary, this temporary waiver:
- applies only to properties located within the overlapping PDMDAs;
- waives the 14-day waiting period to conduct the damage inspection report;
- does not waive the damage inspection report or inspection and repair escrow requirements;
- is not applicable to properties located in areas included in the Florida Hurricane Milton PDMDA (DR-4834-FL), unless the properties were also included in a PDMDA associated with Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene.
This waiver of Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (Handbook 4000.1) policy — sections II.A.7.c, II.B.6.a.xiii, and II.B.7.c. — is effective immediately. |
