(a) General. The Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner, or his or her designee, may initiate a civil money penalty action against any dealer or sponsored third-party originator that violates section 2(b)(7) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1703). Such violations include, but are not limited to:

(1) Falsifying information on an application for dealer approval or reapproval submitted to a lender;

(2) Falsifying statements on a HUD credit application, improvement contract, note, security instrument, completion certificate, or other loan document;

(3) Failing to sign a credit application if the dealer or sponsored third-party originator assisted the borrower in completing the application;

(4) Falsely certifying to a lender that the loan proceeds have been or will be spent on eligible improvements;

(5) Falsely certifying to a lender that the property improvements have been completed;

(6) Falsely certifying that a borrower has not been given or promised any cash payment, rebate, cash bonus, or anything of more than nominal value as an inducement to enter into a loan transaction;

(7) Making a false representation to a lender with respect to the creditworthiness of a borrower or the eligibility of the improvements for which a loan is sought.

(b) Continuing violation. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.

(c) Amount of penalty. The maximum penalty is $12,249 for each violation, up to a limit for any particular person of $2,449,575 during any one-year period.

[61 FR 50215, Sept. 24, 1996, as amended at 68 FR 12788, Mar. 17, 2003; 72 FR 5588, Feb. 6, 2007; 77 FR 51467, Aug. 24, 2012; 78 FR 4059, Jan. 18, 2013; 81 FR 38935, June 15, 2016; 82 FR 24524, May 30, 2017; 83 FR 32793, July 16, 2018; 84 FR 9453, Mar. 15, 2019; 85 FR 13044, Mar. 6, 2020; 86 FR 14373, Mar. 16, 2021; 87 FR 24420, Apr. 26, 2022; 88 FR 9748, Feb. 15, 2023; 89 FR 13616, Feb. 23, 2024]