FHA issued a Waiver of Housing Directive (Waiver) pertaining to the timeline for initiating damage inspections in presidentially-declared disaster areas in Iowa. FHA currently requires that all properties with pending mortgages or endorsements in presidentially-declared major disaster areas have a damage inspection report dated after the “incident period” (as defined by FEMA) closes. FEMA defines the incident period as “the time interval during which the disaster-causing incident occurs.” According to FHA, the situation in Freemont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie, Scott, Shelby and Woodbury counties have stabilized to the extent that further damage to the properties appears unlikely, despite FEMA not having closed its incident period. As a result, FHA issued a Waiver, allowing damage inspections to be completed beginning May 14, 2018 in Freemont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie, Scott, Shelby and Woodbury counties. The waiver expires April 30, 2020.

Tennessee Increases Permissible Interest Rate for Closed-end Loans under Industrial Loan and Thrift Companies Act
Tennessee passed a bill increasing the permissible interest rate for closed-end loans under the Industrial Loan and Thrift Companies Act (ILTCA). Under the bill, the