12th
Overheard at the Reference Desk—HUD refunds
Recently a patron brought in a card he’d received in the mail, from a company promising to help the patron collect a refund from HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For a fee, this company would help him collect the refund he was owed from the insurance premium on his FHA mortgage, and he wanted to know if this was legitimate.
We checked the HUD website and found out that, while the companies offering this service are doing nothing illegal, it is completely unnecessary. Individuals can search the HUD website to find out if they are owed a refund, and they can call or email the department for help with what to do next.
See Does HUD owe you a refund? to search the database, and FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet for information on who may be eligible for the refunds. Also check out FHA Refund Alerts to learn more about the third-party companies who use public information to make these fee-based offers to consumers.
