The Multifamily Mortgage Foreclosure Act of 1981, title 12 U.S.C.A. Sections 3701-3715, known as the Federal Foreclosure Act, became effective on October 1, 1981. The Act creates a uniform federal foreclosure remedy for multi-unit residential and nonresidential mortgages held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to title II of the National Housing Act or Section 312 of the Housing Act of 1964.

A multifamily mortgage is defined as a mortgage held by the Secretary under any of the above mentioned Acts and covering any property, except a property on which there is located a one-to-four family residence.

Any such mortgage may be foreclosed by the Secretary either in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Foreclosure Act or pursuant to any other procedures available.

Do not insure under this foreclosure act without approval from the National Legal Department or a Texas Underwriter.

"A foreclosure commissioner or commissioners designated pursuant to this chapter shall have a nonjudicial power of sale as provided in this chapter. Where the Secretary is the holder of a multifamily mortgage, the Secretary may designate a foreclosure commissioner and, with or without cause, may designate a substitute foreclosure commissioner to replace a previously designated foreclosure commissioner, by executing a duly acknowledged, written designation stating the name and business or residential address of the commissioner or substitute commissioner. The designation shall be effective upon execution. Except as provided in Section 3707(b) of this title, a copy of the designation shall be mailed with each copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale served by mail in accordance with Section 3708(1) of this title. The foreclosure commissioner, if a natural person, shall be a resident of the State in which the security property is located and, if not a natural person, the foreclosure commissioner must be duly authorized to transact business under the laws of the State in which the security property is located. . . ."

"Foreclosure by the Secretary under this chapter of a multifamily mortgage may be commenced, as provided in Section 3707 of this title, upon the breach of a covenant or condition in the mortgage agreement for which foreclosure is authorized under the mortgage, except that no such foreclosure may be commenced unless any previously pending proceeding, judicial or nonjudicial, separately instituted by the Secretary to foreclose the mortgage other than under this chapter has been withdrawn, dismissed, or otherwise terminated. No such separately instituted foreclosure proceeding on the mortgage shall be instituted by the Secretary during the pendency of foreclosure pursuant to this chapter. Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the Secretary from enforcing any right, other than foreclosure, under applicable State law, including any right to obtain a monetary judgment."

"(a) The notice of default and foreclosure sale to be served in accordance with this chapter shall be subscribed with the name and address of the foreclosure commissioner and the date on which subscribed and shall set forth the following information:

the names of the Secretary, the original mortgagee and the original mortgagor;

the street address or a description of the location of the security property, and a description of the security property, or so much thereof as is to be offered for sale, sufficient to identify the property to be sold;

the date of the mortgage, the office in which the mortgage is recorded, and the liber and folio or other description of the location of recordation of the mortgage;

the failure to make payment, including the due date of the earliest installment payment remaining wholly unpaid a of the date the notice is subscribed, or the description of other default or defaults upon which foreclosure is based, and the acceleration of the secured indebtedness;

the date, time, and place of the foreclosure sale;

a statement that the foreclosure is being conducted pursuant to this chapter;

the types of costs, if any, to be paid by the purchaser upon transfer of title; and

the amount and method of deposit to be required at the foreclosure sale (except that no deposit shall be required of the Secretary), the time and method of payment of the balance of the foreclosure purchase price and other appropriate terms of sale.

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2)(A), the Secretary may require, as a condition and term of sale, that the purchaser at a foreclosure sale under this chapter agrees to continue to operate the security property in accordance with the terms, as appropriate, of the loan program under Section 312 of the Housing Act of 1964, [42 U.S.C.A. Section 1707 et seq.] was originally provided with respect to such property, or any applicable regulatory or other agreement in effect with respect to such property immediately prior to the time of foreclosure sale.

(2)(A) In any case where the majority of the residential units in a property subject to such a sale are occupied by residential tenants at the time of the sale, the Secretary shall require, as a condition and term of sale, any purchaser (other than the Secretary) to operate the property in accordance with such terms, as appropriate, of the programs referred to in paragraph (1). . . ."

"(a) If the Secretary as holder of a multifamily mortgage determines that the prerequisites to foreclosure set forth in Section 3705 of this title are satisfied, the Secretary may request the foreclosure commissioner to commence foreclosure of the mortgage. Upon such request, the foreclosure commissioner shall commence foreclosure of the mortgage, by commencing service of a notice default and foreclosure sale in accordance with Section 3708 of this title.

(b) Subsequent to commencement of a foreclosure under this chapter, the Secretary may designate a substitute foreclosure commissioner at any time up to forty-eight hours prior to the time of foreclosure sale, and the foreclosure shall continue without prejudice, unless the substitute commissioner, at their sole discretion, finds that the continuation of the foreclosure sale will unfairly affect the interests of the mortgage...."

"The foreclosure commissioner shall serve the notice of default and foreclosure sale provided for in Section 3706 of this title upon the following persons and in the following manner, and no additional notice shall be required to be served notwithstanding any notice requirements of any State or local law--

(1) The notice of default and foreclosure sale, together with the designation required by Section 3704 of this title, shall be sent by certified or registered mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, to the following persons.

(A) the current security property owner of record, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this chapter.

(B) the original mortgagor and all subsequent mortgagors of record or other persons who appear of record or in the mortgage agreement to be liable for part of all of the mortgage debt, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this chapter, except any such mortgagors or persons who have been released; and

(C) all persons holding liens of record upon the security property, as the record exists forty-five days prior to the date originally set for foreclosure sale, whether or not the notice describes a sale adjourned as provided in this chapter.

Notice under clauses (A) and (B) of this paragraph shall be mailed at least twenty-one days prior to the date of foreclosure sale, and shall be mailed to the owner or mortgagor at the address stated in the mortgage agreement, or, if none, to the address of the security property, or, at the discretion of the foreclosure commissioner, to any other address believed to be that of such owner or mortgagor. Notice under clause (C) of this paragraph shall be mailed at least ten days prior to the date of foreclosure sale, and shall be mailed to each such lienholder's address as stated of record or, at the discretion of the foreclosure commissioner, to any other address believed to be that of such lienholder. Notice by mail pursuant to this subsection or Section 3707(b) of this title shall be deemed duly given upon mailing, whether or not received or the letter is returned.

(2) A copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall be published, as provided herein, once a week during three successive calendar weeks, and the date of last publication shall be not less than four nor more than twelve days prior to the sale date. The information included in the notice of default and foreclosure sale pursuant to Section 3706(a)(b) of this title may be omitted, in the foreclosure commissioner's discretion, from the published notice. Such publication shall be in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in the county or counties in which the security property being sold is located. To the extent practicable, the newspaper or newspapers chosen shall be a newspaper or newspapers, if any is available, having circulation conducive to achieving notice of foreclosure by publication. Should there be no newspaper published at least weekly which has a general circulation in one of the counties in which the security property being sold is located, copies of the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall be posted in at least three public places in each such county at least twenty-one days prior to the date of sale.

(3) A copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall be posted in a prominent place at or on the real property to be sold at least seven days prior to the foreclosure sale, and entry upon the premises for this purpose shall be privileged as against all persons. If the property consists of two or more noncontiguous parcels of land, a copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall be posted in a prominent place on each such parcel. If the security property consists of two or more separate buildings, a copy of the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall be posted in a prominent place on each such building. Posting at or on the premises shall not be required where the foreclosure commissioner, at the commissioner's sole discretion, finds that the act of posting will likely cause a breach of the peace or that posting may result in an increased risk of vandalism or damage to the property."

"(a) Time of sale; public auction; location

The date of foreclosure sale set forth in the notice of default and foreclosure sale shall not be prior to thirty days after the due date of the earliest occurrence of any uncured nonmonetary default upon which foreclosure is based. Foreclosure sale pursuant to this chapter shall be a public auction, and shall be scheduled to begin between the hours of 9 o'clock ante meridian and 4 o'clock post-meridian local time on a day other than Sunday or a public holiday as defined by Section 6103(a) of Title 5, or Title 5, or State law. The foreclosure sale shall be held at a location where foreclosure real estate auctions are customarily held in the county or one of the counties in which the property to be sold is located, or at a courthouse therein, or at or on the property to be sold. Sale of security property situated in two or more counties may be held in any one of the counties in which any part of the security property is situated.

(b) Conduct of sale

The foreclosure commissioner shall conduct the foreclosure sale in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and in a manner fair to both the mortgagor and the Secretary. The foreclosure commissioner shall attend the foreclosure sale in person or, if there are two or more commissioners, at least one shall attend the foreclosure sale. In the event that no foreclosure commissioner is a natural person, the foreclosure commissioner shall cause its duly authorized employee to attend the foreclosure sale to act on its behalf. Written one-price sealed bids shall be accepted by the foreclosure commissioner from the Secretary and other persons for entry by announcement by the commissioner at the sale. The Secretary and any other persons may bid at the foreclosure sale, including the Secretary or any other person who has submitted a written one-price bid, except that the foreclosure commissioner or any relative, related business entity or employee of such commissioner or entity shall not be permitted to bid in any manner on the security property subject to foreclosure sale. The foreclosure commissioner may serve as auctioneer, or, in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, may employ an auctioneer to be paid from the commission provided for in Section 3711(5) of this title.

(c) Adjournment or cancellation

The foreclosure commissioner shall have discretion, prior to or at the time of sale, to adjourn or cancel the foreclosure sale if the commissioner determines, at the commissioner's sole discretion, that circumstances are not conducive to a sale which is fair to the mortgagor and the Secretary or that additional time is necessary to determine whether the security property should be withdrawn from foreclosure as provided in Section 3709 of this title. The foreclosure commissioner may adjourn a sale to a later hour the same day without the giving of further notice, or may adjourn the foreclosure sale for not less than nine nor more than twenty-four days, in which case the commissioner shall serve a notice of default and foreclosure sale revised to recite that the foreclosure sale has been adjourned to a specified date and to include any corrections the foreclosure commissioner deems appropriate. Such notice shall be served by publication, mailing, and posting in accordance with Section 3708 of this title, except that publication may be made on any of three separate days prior to the revised date of foreclosure sale, and mailing may be made at any time at least seven days prior to which the foreclosure sale has been adjourned."

"Money realized from a foreclosure sale shall be made available for obligations and expenditures

(1) first to cover the costs of foreclosure provided for in Section 3711 of this title;

(2) then to pay valid tax liens or assessments prior to the mortgage;

(3) then to pay any liens recorded prior to the recording of the mortgage which are required to be paid in conformity with the terms of sale in the notice of default and foreclosure sale;

(4) then to service charges and advancements for taxes, assessments, and property insurance premiums . . ."

"(a) Payment and delivery of deeds

The foreclosure commissioner shall deliver a deed or deeds to the purchaser or purchasers and obtain the balance of the purchase price in accordance with the terms of sale provided in the notice of default and foreclosure sale.

(b) Quitclaim deed

Subject to subsection (c) of this section, the foreclosure deed or deeds shall convey all of the rights, title, and interest in the security property covered by the deed which the Secretary as holder, the foreclosure commissioner, the mortgagor, and any other persons claiming by, through, or under them, had on the date of execution of the mortgage, together with all of the rights, title, and interest thereafter acquired by any of them in such property up to the hour of sale, and no judicial proceeding shall be required ancillary or supplementary to the procedures provided in this chapter to assure the validity of the conveyance or confirmation of such conveyance.

(c) Possession by purchaser; continuing interests

A purchaser at a foreclosure sale held pursuant to this chapter shall be entitled to possession upon passage of title to the mortgaged property, subject to an interest or interests senior to that of the mortgage and subject to the terms of any lease of a residential tenant for the remaining term of the lease or for one year, whichever period is shorter. Any other person remaining in possession after the sale and any residential tenant in possession after the applicable period shall be deemed a tenant at sufferance.

(d) Right of redemption; right of possession

There shall be no right of redemption, or right of possession based upon right of redemption, in the mortgagor or others subsequent to a foreclosure pursuant to this chapter.

(e) Imposition of tax on conveyance to the Secretary

When conveyance is made to the Secretary, no tax shall be imposed or collected with respect to the foreclosure commissioner's deed, whether as a tax upon the instrument or upon the privilege of conveying or transferring title to the property. Failure to collect or pay a tax of the type and under the circumstances stated in the preceding sentence shall not be the grounds for refusing to record such a deed."

"(a) To establish a sufficient record of foreclosure and sale, the foreclosure commissioner shall include in the recitals of the deed to the purchaser an affidavit or addendum to the deed stating --

(1) that the mortgage was held by the Secretary;

(2) the particulars of the foreclosure commissioner's service of notice of default and foreclosure sale in accordance with Sections 3708 and 3710 of this title;

(3) that the foreclosure was conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and with the terms of the notice of default and foreclosure sale;

(4) a correct statement of the costs of foreclosure calculated in accordance with Section 3711 of this title; and

(5) the name of the successful bidder and the amount of the successful bid.

(b) The deed executed by the foreclosure commissioner, the foreclosure commissioner's affidavit and any other instruments submitted for recordation in relation to the foreclosure of the security property under this chapter shall be accepted for recordation by the registrar of deeds or other appropriate official of the county or counties in which the security property is located upon tendering of payment of the usual recording fees for such instruments."