Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993 TAG: 9308060335
SECTION: MONEY PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Are these refunds still available? Can you estimate the amount of the refund? Would I still be able to claim a refund if I paid off the mortgage in 1993 or would it be better to wait until 1994? Would a refund be taxable?
A: You may very well be eligible for a refund, but it will come your way only if you make a claim for the money, according to H. Michael Hincker, Roanoke manager for Mortgage Service America. He said your lender should be able to provide you with an information sheet about the insurance refund.
There are two types of insurance programs and refunds. You come under the Mortgage Insurance Premium program which FHA calls MIP. This was in effect for mortgages issued prior to Sept. 1, 1983.
People like you with MIP have paid 0.5 percent monthly during the life of the loan for mortgage insurance that protected the lender against default. You can make a claim for a refund if you have never claimed under the insurance.
The amount will depend on the FHA experience with the pool of which your mortgage was a part. It does not depend on your own personal experience.
If more people than normal defaulted in your pool, the amount will be small. Each refund is higher in a pool with which the FHA had a good experience.
Neither you nor your lender can determine the amount of your refund. The information can be obtained only from the FHA after your loan is paid. The date on which you pay off has no impact on the amount due.
Since Sept. 1, 1983, people taking a mortgage have paid either 3.8 percent or 3 percent up front for this insurance. Most people financed that payment along with the mortgage. The government calls this the distributive share program.
Under this program, refunds are due only if the mortgage is paid off early, as many of them are. The information sheet from the lender gives several examples of the equations for determining the refund.
In either case, you must wait at least 90 days after the mortgage is paid off before you can write to inquire about a claim.
The address is: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Director, Mortgage Insurance Accounting and Servicing, OFA; ATTN: Insurance Operations Division; Washington, D.C 20410.
Your letter must include your FHA case number, the date the insurance was terminated and whether your inquiry pertains to refund of MIP or distributive share.
Refunds of money you paid are not taxable. Ex-spouse needs number to collect benefits
Q: I am an ex-spouse who wants to collect Social Security benefits on my former husband's work record. Your recent article on divorce benefits answered a lot of my personal questions. However, it did not address the question of having to have your ex-husband's Social Security number in order to collect on his work record. If you do not have your ex-husband's Social Security number, how do you go about obtaining it?
A: You have a real problem because you need the number in order to collect benefits.
A spokeswoman at the Social Security office in Roanoke said federal law prevents it from giving the number to anyone except the owner of the account. The law also applies to an employer or former employer of your ex-husband, she said.
The easiest way is just to ask him for the number. He has nothing to lose by giving it to you because your collecting benefits on his record will not affect his own benefits nor those of a present wife. His only possible motive in withholding the number would be vindictiveness.
If he is vindictive or missing, you have a problem.
If you know where he is, you might try to reactivate your divorce case, asking the judge to order your ex-husband to provide the number.
Cheryl Watson Smith, a specialist in family law with the Roanoke firm of Mundy, Rogers & Frith, said the easiest place to find it would be old income tax returns, which you should have saved.
Even if you haven't saved your old tax returns, you can obtain from the Internal Revenue Service copies of any return that you filed, Smith said. The IRS keeps the returns for about seven years.
Any investment or bank record also should carry the husband's Social Security number as the taxpayer number.
Also look at your divorce papers, Smith suggested. She said all pleadings in a divorce case now must set forth certain personal information, including Social Security numbers. Some lawyers followed this practice in the past.
Mag Poff will help find answers to your personal finance questions. Send them to her at the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
by CNB