Page 192 – Safeguard Properties

VA: VALERI Servicer Newsflash

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June, 18 2020

Source: VA

Circular 26-18-21 – Property Inspection Requirements on CARES Act Forbearance Cases, was issued on June 8, 2020, and is located at https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/resources_circulars.asp.

Circular 26-20-18 – Extended Foreclosure Moratorium for Borrowers Affected by COVID-19, was issued on May 15, 2020, and is located at https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/resources_circulars.asp.

Events with Fatal Rules Report – Report may not capture all rejected events. Until further notice, users should generate the Events Status Report and filter by the Rule Evaluation Status to identify rejected events.

Document Uploads – The VALERI Technical team is actively working to resolve multiple issues that some users are experiencing:

• Unable to view and access uploaded documents
• Unable to select a document type (Post Audits)
• Upload button is grayed out (Post Audits)
Servicers should contact the VA-assigned loan technician to provide the required Post Audit documents timely.

Appraisal Fee Changes – Effective July 1, 2020, liquidation appraisal fees will increase in certain Colorado
counties. The changes will be reflected on the VALERI Fee Cost Schedule located at https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/servicers_valeri_rules.asp.

North Carolina Pre-Foreclosure Notice of Hearing – A notice of hearing is required to be filed with the clerk of court under North Carolina General Statute §45.21.16. Servicers may claim this expense as “Prothonotary/clerk’s fee” under Foreclosure Facilitation Fees.

Colorado Rule 120 Hearing – Under Rule 120 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, a motion asking the court for an order authorizing the foreclosure sale is required to be filed with the county. Servicers may claim this expense as “Posting notice of Sale” under Filing Fees.

Servicer Department Contacts – Servicer administrators are urged to create and maintain accurate points of contact (POC) for each business area by selecting “Servicer Departments” from the main menu and then selecting “New.” A job aid is also available as a Knowledge article in VALERI. VA loan technicians rely on this information to complete their tasks timely. Missing or inaccurate POC information may cause delays for both the technician and servicer.

CFPB: Program Launched to Improve Compliance

Posted on June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 by Safeguard

Industry Update
June 18, 2020

Source: CFPB

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today launched a pilot advisory opinion (AO) program to publicly address regulatory uncertainty in the Bureau’s existing regulations. The pilot AO program will allow entities seeking to comply with regulatory requirements to submit a request where uncertainty exists. The Bureau will then select topics based on the program’s priorities and make the responses available to the public. In the interest of providing clear rules to regulated entities, the Bureau has made iterative improvements to its guidance processes, including issuing more robust compliance aids and frequently asked questions as well as providing clarifications to individual entities. This pilot advisory program builds on those efforts, recognizing that the public widely would benefit from a process that provides clarifications broadly and not just to requesting individuals or entities.

The pilot program will focus on four key priorities:

Consumers are provided with timely and understandable information to make responsible decisions
Identify outdated, unnecessary or unduly burdensome regulations in order to reduce regulatory burdens
Consistency in enforcement of Federal consumer financial law in order to promote fair competition
Ensuring markets for consumer financial products and services operate transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation

Additionally, initial factors weighing for the appropriateness of an AO include: that the interpretive issue has been noted during prior Bureau examinations as one that might benefit from additional regulatory clarity; that the issue is one of substantive importance or impact or one whose clarification would provide significant benefit; and/or that the issue concerns an ambiguity that the Bureau has not previously addressed through an interpretive rule or other authoritative source. There will be a strong presumption against appropriateness of an AO for issues that are the subject of an ongoing investigation or enforcement action or the subject of an ongoing or planned rulemaking.

If deemed appropriate, the Bureau will issue an advisory opinion based on its summary of the facts presented that would be applicable to other entities in situations with similar facts and circumstances. The advisory opinions would be posted on the Bureau’s website and published in the Federal Register.

In addition to the pilot, the Bureau also announced that the public can comment on the proposed AO program. Following the conclusion of the pilot, the proposed AO program will be fully implemented after the Bureau’s review of comments received.

Requests for advisory opinions may be submitted via email to advisoryopinion@cfpb.gov.

To learn more about the pilot AO program click here: https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_advisory-opinions-pilot_fr-notice.pdf

To learn more about the proposed AO program, click here: https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_advisory-opinions-proposal_fr-notice.pdf

Legislation Proposes National Land Bank Network Creation

Posted on June 19, 2020June 22, 2020 by Safeguard

Legislation Update
June 16, 2020

Source: U.S. Congress (H.R. 7103 Information)

Sponsor:	Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-5] (Introduced 06/04/2020)
Committees:	House – Financial Services
Latest Action:	House – 06/04/2020 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. (All Actions)

For more information, please click the source link above.

Fannie Mae: AAA Matrix Update – June 2020

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June 17, 2020

Source: Fannie Mae

Additional Resource:

Excess Atttorney Fee/Cost Guidelines

The following AAA matrices (9) have been updated effective June 17. Please review the appropriate
jurisdiction-specific AAA matrix for additional details.

For full announcement, please click source link above.

MHA: HAMP Update: System Maintenance Outage

Posted on June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June 11, 2020

Source: MHA

Due to a planned maintenance release, the HAMP Reporting System will be unavailable from 9:00 a.m. ET Friday, June 26, 2020 through 9:00 a.m. ET Monday, June 29, 2020. During this timeframe, the HAMP Reporting Tool will be available for servicers to submit and upload HAMP loan data files, and the corresponding Black Knight response files will be provided as usual.

Please contact the HAMP Solution Center at support@hmpadmin.com with any questions.

States Most At Risk for Natural Disasters in 2020

Posted on June 17, 2020July 7, 2020 by Safeguard

Industry Update
June 8, 2020

Source: ValuePenguin

Natural disasters continue to increase as climate change worsens, but not all parts of the United States are affected equally. Residents of Southern states are most likely to experience significant natural disasters.

As the United States enters its peak severe weather season, residents of some states are more likely to experience financial hardship due to a disaster than others. We found that 10 states are left paying for more than 80% of the cost of natural disasters in the United States, with damage particularly concentrated along the Gulf Coast.

2020 is also on pace to be the year with the most federally declared disasters in history. At the end of April, 2020 was already ranked No. 2, with peak hurricane and wildfire season yet to come.

To access full report, please click the source link above.

VA: Circular 26-20-21: Property Inspection Requirements on CARES Act Forbearance Cases

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June 8, 2020

Source: VA

1. Purpose. The purpose of this Circular is to clarify inspection requirements for properties purchased with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed loans where the borrowers have been impacted by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2. Background. On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act), Public Law 116-136. Section 4022 of the CARES Act protects borrowers with Federally backed mortgage loans who are experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 national emergency. In part, section 4022 states that no fees, penalties, or interest associated with a delinquent loan shall be charged to the borrower’s account while the borrower is on a CARES Act forbearance. A loan must be treated as current or maintain the current status of delinquency while on a CARES Act forbearance.

3. Property Inspection Requirements. VA regulation at 38 CFR 36.4350(i)(1)(i) requires a mortgage servicer to complete a property inspection before the 60th day of delinquency unless a repayment plan is in place. In consideration of the COVID-19 national emergency, the CARES Act, and Executive Order 13924, Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery (81 FR
31353), VA is temporarily suspending the requirement to perform a property inspection for loans before the 60th day of delinquency. This temporary suspension only applies to borrowers whose loans are currently in forbearance and were current or had not yet reached the 60th day of delinquency when borrowers requested a CARES Act forbearance. Inspections are still required for vacant and abandoned properties.

4. Associated Costs for Property Inspections. In temporarily suspending the property inspection requirement at 38 CFR 36.4350(i)(1)(i), VA seeks to reduce costly inspections that it believes do not provide enough value to meet the challenges in the current environment. In general, borrowers that have requested a CARES Act forbearance are indicating interest in retaining homeownership and are not vacating or abandoning properties. A national foreclosure and eviction moratorium is in place, and borrowers cannot be removed from the property and are therefore more likely to take care of the dwelling in which they reside. Under normal circumstances, the cost of the property inspection would be charged to the borrower’s account. The borrower would pay the cost of the inspection if the loan became current subsequent to the property inspection, or VA would reimburse the cost of the inspection on a claim against guarantee on terminated loans. However, as noted above, servicers may not charge a borrower any fees associated with delinquency related to a CARES Act forbearance. The temporary suspension of property inspection requirements will therefore assist in mitigating the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 and lift a regulatory and costly burden upon industry.

5. Rescission: This Circular is rescinded July 1, 2021.

By Direction of the Under Secretary for Benefits

Jeffrey F. London
Executive Director
Loan Guaranty Service

Fannie Mae: LoanSphere Invoicing Line Item Consolidation

Posted on June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June 3, 2020

Source: Fannie Mae

Effective August 01, 2020, the LoanSphere Invoicing application will be updated with new line items in the Attorney Fees and Property Services categories and other line items will be deactivated.

For More Information
Beginning August 1, reference the LoanSphere Line Item Search Tool (LIST) for a list of revised servicer expense categories and subcategories in LoanSphere Invoicing. For other related information, visit the Servicer Expense Reimbursement page.

If you have any questions related to the LoanSphere Invoicing line Items, please submit your inquiry to expensereimbursement_lineitemconsolidationproject@fanniemae.com.

For full release notes, please click source link above.

Fannie Mae: SVC-2020-02: Servicing Guide Update

Posted on June 10, 2020June 10, 2020 by Ashley Shepherd

Investor Update
June 10, 2020

Source: Fannie Mae

The Servicing Guide has been updated to include changes to the following:

▪ Pre-modification housing expense-to-income ratio calculation for imminent default and cash contribution*:
updated instructions to servicers regarding escrow shortages that are part of the full monthly contractual payment.

▪ Miscellaneous revisions*: clarified delinquency status reporting requirements and updated Form 710.

*Policy change not applicable to reverse mortgage loans.

For full update, please click the source link above.

FHFA: Non-performing Loan Sales Report – December 2019

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Safeguard

Investor Update
June 1, 2020

Source: FHFA