A mortgage on a leasehold estate covering a one- to four-family residence located on the Allegany Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the State of New York is eligible for insurance if the mortgage meets the requirements of this subpart as modified by this section.

(a) Title. This section applies only to a mortgage which:

(1) Does not meet the requirements of §203.37;

(2) Is on a leasehold under a lease with a termination date in February 1991, which provides for renewal in accordance with the Act of February 19, 1875 (18 Stat. 330) and the Act of September 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 558).

A mortgage may not be on a leasehold created by a lease which is executed after the effective date of this section as a renewal or replacement of a lease described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. A mortgage may not be secured by any other right of occupancy created in lieu of a leasehold after the effective date of this section by agreement of the Seneca Nation, court order, law or any other means.

(b) Provisions of mortgage. The Secretary will prescribe special mortgage provisions in the form of a mortgage rider in order better to secure the mortgagee, including:

(1) Authorization for the mortgagee to exercise the option of lease renewal if the mortgagor fails to do so, and to recover from the mortgagor authorized expenses incurred to obtain lease renewal; and

(2) Making a mortgagor failure to take steps necessary for less renewal an event of default under the mortgage.

(c) Secretary agreement with mortgagor. The mortgagor must enter into an agreement with the Secretary and such other parties as the Secretary may require regarding actions to be taken to obtain either a renewal of the lease or a new lease.

(d) Certification. The borrower must certify that it has received disclosures, in a form prescribed by the Secretary, explaining the status of the lease and the consequences of nonrenewal. The disclosure shall include a discussion of the fact that a mortgagor who does not obtain a lease renewal and loses the right of occupancy will remain liable for the outstanding balance of the mortgage.

(e) Purchase for principal residence. The mortgagor must be a purchaser who intends to occupy the property as a principal residence (as defined in §203.18(f)(1)), or a current owner-occupant refinancing a mortgage which is now due or which will become due before the lease termination date in February 1991.

(f) Relationship of income to housing expense. For purposes of §203.33(a), the total prospective housing expense shall include the Secretary's estimate of future lease payments during the term of the mortgage rather than lease payments in effect at the time of application.

(g) Suspension of commitments. The Secretary may suspend the issuance of commitments to insure mortgages under this section, for the entire period during which commitments could otherwise be issued for insurance under this section (i.e., through February 18, 1991) or for such lesser period as the Secretary may specify, by providing thirty days notice of suspension in the Federal Register. Regardless of its duration, a suspension to be imposed prior to February 19, 1990, will be based on a determination by the Secretary that, for mortgages insured during a specified period, the rate of monetary defaults (as measured by 90 day delinquencies) for mortgages insured under this section exceeds the rate of such monetary defaults for all insured mortgages on one- to four-family properties in the State of New York. A suspension to be imposed after February 18, 1990, will be based on a consideration by the Secretary of the probable costs to the Special Risk Insurance Fund of further commitments to insure under this section, as measured by such factors as the current and projected rate and amount of claims payments, together with other significant current and projected costs as determined by the Secretary, including a review of the actual and projected monetary default rate (as measured by 90 day delinquencies) and the actual and projected rate of lease renewal through negotiation and arbitration.

[52 FR 48201, Dec. 21, 1987, and 53 FR 9869, Mar. 28, 1988, as amended at 54 FR 32970, Aug. 11, 1989; 55 FR 34805, Aug. 24, 1990]