HUD Issues MF Restructuring Rules

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an interim rule that sets out the ground rules for its multifamily debt restructuring program.The interim rule, which appeared in Friday's Federal Register, has received generally good marks from housing experts who have seen a draft of the rule. The restructuring program is expected to deal with some 4,000 HUD-insured multifamily properties, and it is scheduled to get under way Oct. 27 if a director for the program is appointed by the president. Otherwise the program will be delayed. But such a delay could give lenders, owners, and other participants more time to get prepared for restructuring. "People are really scrambling now," said Charlie Wilkins, a restructuring consultant with WMF Group, Vienna, Va.