How to Fill Out and Submit the FHA Case Number Cancellation Form

The FHA case number cancellation form is a short template lenders complete on company letterhead and email to HUD’s FHA Resource Center at answers@hud.gov. You only need it when FHA Connection’s self-service Case Cancel/Reinstate screen won’t process the cancellation, which happens in three situations: the Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium has already been paid, the case has already been endorsed, or the case was auto-canceled by the system and needs to be reinstated.¹ For every other cancellation, skip the form and use FHA Connection directly.

What the Form Must Contain

Download the Case Cancellation Request template from HUD’s Single Family Case Processing Requirements page. The completed request needs five items:²

Company letterhead showing the lender’s name and contact information.
The FHA case number for the transaction being canceled.
The reason for cancellation, explained in the body of the letter.
An active FHA Lender ID (10 digits).
Any supporting documentation, attached to the email.

The reason does not have to match a preset code the way FHA Connection’s dropdown does; write it as a plain explanation. If the cancellation involves a paid UFMIP, note that clearly so the Resource Center can route the refund side of the file correctly.

How to Submit It

Email the completed template to answers@hud.gov. Use the subject line CASE CANCELLATION followed by the FHA case number.² The FHA Resource Center processes these Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern, excluding federal holidays.¹

Only the mortgagee can submit the request. FHA will not process cancellation or reinstatement requests sent directly by borrowers.¹

When to Use FHA Connection Instead of the Form

Since August 2023, most cancellations run through FHA Connection’s Case Cancel/Reinstate screen and never touch the email template.¹ If UFMIP has not been paid and the case has not been endorsed, use the self-service route:

Log in to FHA Connection at entp.hud.gov/clas/ with your multi-factor authentication credentials.³
Open the Case Cancel/Reinstate screen and enter the first three digits of the case number in the first box, then the remaining seven digits in the next.⁴
Verify the case details the system displays.
Pick a cancellation reason from the dropdown. If you choose “Other,” type an explanation in the Comments field.⁴
Submit. Confirm the status change with a Case Status Query afterward.

The dropdown reasons cover the usual scenarios: Transaction Not Completed, Different Financing, Different MIP Structure, Appraisal Expired, Case Closed Not Endorsed, and Other.⁴

The 15-Day Deadline

HUD Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 requires the mortgagee to cancel a case number within 15 days of determining that the mortgage will not close.⁵ FHA does auto-cancel non-endorsed cases after six months of inactivity, and after 18 months if UFMIP was received, but waiting for the system to clean up does not satisfy the lender’s obligation.⁶

UFMIP Refunds After Cancellation

If UFMIP was paid on a case that gets canceled before endorsement, HUD automatically refunds the premium to the remitting lender. The check typically arrives about six to eight weeks after the cancellation is processed, and the same timing applies when the system auto-cancels a non-endorsed case at the 18-month mark.⁷

HUD mails the refund to the endorsement address on file. You can view and update that address through the Lender Electronic Assessment Portal, reached from FHA Connection’s Lender Functions menu.⁷ Check the address before you submit the cancellation.

Reinstating a Case You Canceled

If a case number was canceled in error, most reinstatements can be done on the same Case Cancel/Reinstate screen in FHA Connection.⁵ Cases that were auto-canceled by the system are the exception. To bring one of those back, use the Case Reinstatement template and email it to answers@hud.gov with the subject line CASE REINSTATEMENT followed by the case number.⁸ As with cancellation, only the mortgagee can make the request.

1
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Enables Mortgagees to Process Case Cancellations and Reinstatements through FHA Connection
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD FHA Case Number Cancellation Form
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Connection
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Connection Case Cancel/Reinstate Help
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1
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HUD FHA Connection. Pending Case Cancellation Report Business Background
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Refunding a Payment
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U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Case Reinstatement Request