The HUD refund list is a free public database at entp.hud.gov/dsrs/refunds where former FHA borrowers can check whether they’re owed an unclaimed mortgage insurance premium refund or a distributive share from the FHA insurance fund. Search by your last name or your 10-digit FHA case number. If your name appears, HUD has money set aside for you, and the claim process costs nothing.1U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Does HUD Owe You A Refund?
How to Search the Database
Go to entp.hud.gov/dsrs/refunds and enter your last name. City and state are optional but useful if your name is common. If nothing comes up, try the FHA case number instead. It’s formatted as three digits, a dash, and seven digits (for example, 051-4567890), and you can find it on your original settlement papers, your HUD-1 statement, or by asking your former lender.
A match means HUD has identified an unclaimed refund tied to your property. Call (800) 697-6967 to start the claim. If you searched both ways and found nothing but believe you should qualify, email sf.premiums@hud.gov or call the same number and ask HUD to look up your case manually.1U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Does HUD Owe You A Refund?
Who Actually Qualifies
HUD pays two different kinds of refunds, and which one applies depends entirely on when your loan was written.
Premium Refunds
If you took out an FHA-insured loan after September 1, 1983, paid the upfront mortgage insurance premium at closing, and never defaulted, part of that premium may come back to you when the loan ends early. The upfront premium is currently 1.75% of the base loan amount, so a $300,000 mortgage carries a $5,250 upfront premium. When the loan is paid off, sold, or refinanced before FHA has fully earned the premium, the unearned portion is refundable.2HUD. FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet
Whether a refund is still available depends on the endorsement date:
- Endorsed before December 8, 2004, and closed before January 1, 2001: no refund after the seventh year of insurance.
- Endorsed before December 8, 2004, and closed on or after January 1, 2001: no refund after the fifth year.
- Endorsed on or after December 8, 2004: a refund is available only if you refinanced into another FHA-insured loan, and only within the first three years.
That third rule catches a lot of people. If your loan was endorsed after December 2004 and you sold the home or refinanced into a conventional loan, no premium refund is owed no matter how quickly the loan ended.
Distributive Share Payments
If your FHA loan originated before September 1, 1983, you paid on it for more than seven years, and the FHA insurance was terminated before November 5, 1990, you may be owed a distributive share. This is your portion of excess earnings from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund during the years your loan was insured, not a return of premium.3U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet on Refunds
How Much Money You’re Looking At
For loans endorsed on or after December 8, 2004, HUD uses a declining schedule. Refinance into another FHA loan within the first month and you get 80% of the upfront premium back. The percentage falls by roughly two points a month, reaching 58% at the end of year one, 34% at the end of year two, and 10% by the final month of year three.4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Chapter 7 – Mortgage Insurance Premiums
Older loans use longer schedules. Loans closed between 1994 and 2000 followed a seven-year earnings-factor table; loans closed between 2001 and the December 2004 endorsement cutoff used a five-year schedule. The refund shrinks month by month and hits zero at the end of the window.5U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Appendix 1.0 – Mortgage Insurance Premiums
Real numbers help. A 1.75% upfront premium on a $250,000 loan is $4,375. Refinance into another FHA loan six months later and you’d get back roughly 70%, or about $3,062. Wait two years and it drops to around $2,362.
Filing the Claim
Every refund claim uses Form HUD-27050-B, the Application for Premium Refund or Distributive Share Payment. HUD mails the form to eligible recipients, but you can also request one at (800) 697-6967 or sf.premiums@hud.gov.6U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD Forms
You’ll need four things:
- A certified copy of a government-issued photo ID (driver’s license or passport).
- Proof of your Social Security number, meaning your Social Security card or a W-2 issued within the last five years.
- Proof of your current address on a computer-generated document dated within the last 90 days. A utility bill or mortgage statement works.
- Proof you owned the property when the FHA insurance ended. A canceled Deed of Trust note or a letter from your former lender confirming payoff will do.3U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Homeowners Fact Sheet on Refunds
If the refund is $2,000 or less, your signature is enough. Above $2,000, at least one signature must be notarized.
Submit the completed package by email to sf.premiums@hud.gov, by fax to (301) 572-8079, through HUD’s online Premium Refund Application Upload page, or by mail to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410. Email and the online upload are fastest. There’s no processing fee for any method.1U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Does HUD Owe You A Refund?
After You Submit
Processing typically takes up to 60 days from the date HUD receives a complete package. If something’s missing, HUD will contact you, and that pushes the timeline out.7U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Refunding a Payment
Once approved, the Department of the Treasury mails the check directly to you. HUD doesn’t pay these refunds electronically, so the address on your application matters. If you move while your claim is pending, contact HUD right away to update it.
Claiming for a Deceased Borrower
If the person owed the refund has died, an executor or court-appointed administrator can still file. The application is the same HUD-27050-B, filled out with the deceased owner’s name and ownership percentage. Along with the standard documents, include a certified copy of the death certificate and the Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration that name you as the authorized representative of the estate.
If the property was held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, it’s simpler. A certified death certificate is generally enough for the surviving co-owner to claim the full payment without probate.
Deadlines That Erase the Refund
Premium refunds expire on the schedule above: three, five, or seven years after endorsement, depending on the loan. Past that point the refund is zero.
Distributive shares have a harder cutoff. HUD is not liable for any distributive share that remains unclaimed six years after HUD first mailed notification to the borrower’s last known address. That clock starts whether the letter reached you or not, which is why borrowers who moved without updating their address often lose out.8eCFR. 24 CFR 203.427 – Statute of Limitations on Payment of Distributive Shares
Don’t Pay Anyone to Collect It for You
HUD says directly on its refund page that you don’t need to pay a person or firm to collect this money. Companies that mail official-looking letters offering to recover FHA refunds for a percentage are reselling a free 15-minute process. If you get stuck, HUD’s own support line at (800) 697-6967 and sf.premiums@hud.gov will walk you through the search, the application, and the status of your claim at no cost.9U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Toll-Free Numbers