Page 299 – Safeguard Properties

FHFA: Refinance Report – Fourth Quarter 2017

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 14, 2018

Total refinance volume increased in December 2017 as mortgage rates in November remained below the levels observed at the beginning of the year. Mortgage rates increased in December: the average interest rate on a 30?year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.95 percent from 3.92 percent in November.

In the fourth quarter of 2017:

Borrowers completed 6,309 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,484,025.
HARP volume represented one percent of total refinance volume.

Year to date through December 2017:

Borrowers with loan?to?value ratios greater than 105 percent accounted for 19 percent of the volume of HARP loans.
Twenty?six percent of HARP refinances for underwater borrowers were for shorter?term 15? and 20?year mortgages, which build equity faster than traditional 30?year mortgages.
HARP refinances represented five or more percent of total refinances in Nevada and Florida ?? more than double the two percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.
In December, 5 percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan?to?value ratio greater than 125 percent.
Borrowers who refinanced through HARP had a lower delinquency rate compared to borrowers eligible for HARP who did not refinance through the program.
Nine states and one U.S. territory accounted for over 70 percent of the Nation’s HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of September 30, 2017.

Attachments: Refinance Report – 4Q 2017

Source: FHFA

FHFA: Foreclosure Prevention Report – November 2017

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 8, 2018

November 2017 Highlights

The Enterprises’ Foreclosure Prevention Actions:

The Enterprises completed 22,411 foreclosure prevention actions in November, bringing the total to 4,013,134 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008. Over half of these actions have been permanent loan modifications.
There were 11,264 permanent loan modifications in November, bringing the total to 2,140,484 since the conservatorships began in September 2008.
Forty three percent of modifications in November were modifications with principal forbearance. Modifications with extend term only accounted for 41 percent of all loan modifications during the month.
There were 930 short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure completed in November, down 19 percent compared with October.

The Enterprises’ Mortgage Performance:

The serious delinquency rate increased from 0.95 percent at the end of October to 1.05 percent at the end of November.

The Enterprises’ Foreclosures:

Third-party and foreclosure sales decreased slightly from 4,776 in October to 4,730 in November.
Foreclosure starts increased from 13,601 in October to 18,605 in November.

Attachments:

Foreclosure Prevention Report – November 2017

Source: FHFA

FHFA: 2018-2020 Housing Goals For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Finalized

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 6, 2018

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today published a final rule that establishes new housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2018 through 2020 in accordance with the provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The new goals replace the previous goals, which were in effect through the end of December 2017.

The final rule establishes single-family and multifamily housing goals.

Source: FHFA (full news release)

FHA INFO #18-07: REMINDER: TOTAL Scorecard Database Upgrade Begins on Friday, February 16, 2018

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 14, 2018

Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is issuing this reminder regarding the planned upgrade to its TOTAL Scorecard database beginning at 10:00 PM on Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19, 2018.

During the upgrade, TOTAL Scorecard and FHA Connection (FHAC) will remain accessible during standard operating hours; however, data from transactions routed through the TOTAL Scorecard will not be transferred to FHAC until the upgrade is complete.

It is important to note that the database upgrade does not impact the completion of the endorsement process for those transactions where TOTAL scoring is complete prior to the start of the upgrade. Also note, that this is an upgrade to the database only; there is no impact or change to the version of TOTAL Scorecard currently in use.

If you have any questions regarding the upgrade, TOTAL Scorecard, or FHAC, or require additional information, contact the FHA Resource Center.

Quick Links

Visit the FHA Resource Center at: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/fharesourcectr
Information about FHA’s TOTAL Scorecard can be found at:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/total
FHA-approved lenders and business partners can access FHAC at: https://entp.hud.gov/clas/index.cfm

Resources

Contact the FHA Resource Center:

Visit our online knowledge base to obtain answers to frequently asked questions 24/7 at:
https://www.hud.gov/answers
E-mail the FHA Resource Center at: answers@hud.gov. Emails and phone messages will be responded to during normal hours of operation, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Eastern), Monday through Friday on all non-Federal holidays.
Call 1-800-CALL-FHA (1-800-225-5342). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may reach this number by calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Source: HUD (FHA INFO #18-07 full version)

Additional Resource:

HUD (FHA INFO #18-05)

FHA INFO #18-05: TOTAL Scorecard Database Upgrade Begins on Friday, February 16, 2018

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 8, 2018

Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a planned upgrade to its TOTAL Scorecard database beginning at 10:00 PM on Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19, 2018.

If you have any questions regarding the upgrade, TOTAL Scorecard, or FHAC, or require additional information, contact the FHA Resource Center.

Quick Links

Visit the FHA Resource Center at: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/fharesourcectr
Information about FHA’s TOTAL Scorecard can be found at:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/total
FHA-approved lenders and business partners can access FHAC at: https://entp.hud.gov/clas/index.cfm

Resources

Contact the FHA Resource Center:

Visit our online knowledge base to obtain answers to frequently asked questions 24/7 at:
https://www.hud.gov/answers
E-mail the FHA Resource Center at: answers@hud.gov. Emails and phone messages will be responded to during normal hours of operation, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Eastern), Monday through Friday on all non-Federal holidays.
Call 1-800-CALL-FHA (1-800-225-5342). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may reach this number by calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Source: HUD (FHA INFO #18-05 full version)

FHA INFO #18-04: Newly Redesigned ECLASS and EVARS Web-Based Applications Announced

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
January 26, 2018

Today, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it recently launched newly redesigned and enhanced Electronic Courses on Loss Mitigation and Servicing System (ECLASS) and the Extensions and Variances Automated Requests System (EVARS) web applications.

ECLASS is a portal to self-paced, online training for FHA-approved servicers, FHA-approved housing counseling agencies (HCA), and other non-profit housing counseling agencies. Our ECLASS web-based registration portal provides more opportunities for servicers/lenders and HCAs to easily self-enroll in the FHA National Servicing Center’s self-paced,
online, and onsite training, and is accessible 24×7.

EVARS is a web-based application that gives servicers the ability to request Extensions of Time and Variances related to FHA-insured Title II forward loans.

The updated web-based applications first became available to users on January 16, 2018.

Quick Links

Log-in to the new ECLASS web-based training application at: https://eclass.hudnsc.org
View the EVARS application at: https://evars.hudnsc.org

Resources

Contact the FHA Resource Center:
Visit our online knowledge base to obtain answers to frequently asked questions 24/7 at:
https://www.hud.gov/answers
E-mail the FHA Resource Center at: answers@hud.gov. Emails and phone messages will be responded to during
normal hours of operation, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Eastern), Monday through Friday on all non-Federal holidays.
Call 1-800-CALL-FHA (1-800-225-5342). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may reach this number by
calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Source: HUD (FHA INFO #18-04 full version)

Fannie Mae: Updated Imminent Default FAQs; New Servicer eLearning Courses; and More

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 28, 2018

New Imminent Default Evaluation FAQs

Fannie Mae, in alignment with Freddie Mac and FHFA, is replacing the current Imminent Default Indicator™ model with a rules-based evaluation of borrowers for imminent default for conventional mortgage loan modifications. The new Imminent Default Evaluation FAQs provide additional details on the new evaluation rules. Servicers may begin using the new Imminent Default Evaluation, available now in Servicing Management Default Underwriter™ (SMDU™), and must implement no later than July 1.

New courses added to Introduction to Servicing eLearning series

Two new courses are available now in our self-paced eLearning series for new servicers: QC Audit and Compliance and Subservicer Oversight. Get up to speed quickly with each of these 15-minute courses.

Enhancements to AMN/HSSN

During the weekend of March 24, Fannie Mae will implement enhancements to Asset Management Network (AMN)/HomeSaver Solutions™ Network (HSSN). Please refer to the release notes for more information. As a reminder, to implement this release, AMN/HSSN will be unavailable for processing from 7 a.m. ET until 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 24. Due to related release work, SMDU Auto Decision functionality may experience some intermittent outages because SMDU relies on some HSSN/DARTS case data. If you experience an exception, please wait a few minutes and resubmit.

Reminder: Notifying document custodians for servicing transfers

After Fannie Mae has approved a servicer’s Form 629: Request for Approval of Servicing or Subservicing Transfer, the transferor servicer or the transferee servicer must notify their document custodian of the servicing transfer and include a final list of all transferred loans. Notification must occur even if the document custodian does not change. Review the list of active document custodians.

View more events.

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“A Home of Your Own” pilot aims to help buyers achieve sustainable homeownership
Pilot program aims to increase minority homeownership numbers. Read more

Receive regular content updates by registering at The Home Story.

Recent Tweets

74% of lenders told us that new industry-wide initiatives for standardizing and managing mortgage data are valuable. Details:
http://bit.ly/2BULCDK

Feb. 27

We recently partnered with @UCLAZimanCenter for Real Estate to discuss California’s affordable housing supply crisis. Here’s a recap:
http://bit.ly/2ES5ytB

Feb. 26

Source: Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae Two New Courses Added to Introduction to Servicing eLearning Series

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 7, 2018

We’ve added two new courses to our self-paced series for new servicers: QC Audit and Compliance and Subservicer Oversight! Get up to speed quickly with each of these 15-minute courses.

Source: Fannie Mae (Introduction to Servicing elearning page)

Fannie Mae: See How We’re Simplifying Servicing; Fannie Mae Invoicing; More

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
January 31, 2018

See how our Simplifying Servicing journey continues

Stop by our booth in THE HUB during the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo where we’ll share our innovative solutions for bringing simplicity and certainty to servicing. And be sure to catch Fannie Mae speakers during the conference: Elonda Crocket, “Don’t Leave Money on the Table” on Feb. 7; Jake Williamson, “Information Sharing for Effective Property Maintenance Solutions” on Feb. 8; and Todd Barton, “Servicing Super Session” on Feb 9. See you next week!

What you should know about Fannie Mae Invoicing

Have you started using Fannie Mae Invoicing yet? Here are some things you should know:

New invoices and outstanding billing data have been available in Fannie Mae Invoicing since Sept. 2017.
All Servicer REAM Deficiency Billing System (SRDBS) users have automatic access to Fannie Mae Invoicing using the same credentials.
Technology Manager Administrators can request access to Fannie Mae Invoicing for servicers via Technology Manager.

Ready to get started? Visit the Fannie Mae Invoicing page to view the user guide, FAQs, and other resources.

Reminder: Notifying document custodians about servicing transfers

After Fannie Mae has approved a servicer’s Form 629: Request for Approval of Servicing or Subservicing Transfer, the transferor servicer or the transferee servicer must notify their document custodians of the servicing transfer. A final list of all transferred loans must be included with the notification. Please note: Notification must occur even if the document custodian does not change. Review the list of active document custodians.

Join us at these upcoming events:

Feb. 6-7 | Texas MBA Southern Secondary Market Conference | Houston
Feb. 6-9 | MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo | Grapevine, TX
Feb. 11-13 | The Mortgage Collaborative Winter Conference | San Diego

View more events.

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Early adopter turned eMortgage evangelist: An interview with Mid America’s Jeff Bode
In just three months, Mid America has recouped the cost of implementing its digital closing process. Read more

Receive regular content updates by registering at The Home Story.

Recent Tweets

We’ve updated our Selling Guide. Get a rundown of the updates in this short video. And you can access the full Selling Guide here:
http://bit.ly/2BEnuSg

Jan. 31

@kairyssdal of @Marketplace interviewed our CEO Tim Mayopoulos to discuss what we do, the state of the American housing industry, and much more. Tune in:
http://bit.ly/2BEbWyi

Jan. 30

Source: Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae: Investor Reporting Changes May Reduce Fatal Edits; Updated Servicer Expense Reimbursement Job Aid; and More

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Investor Update
February 21, 2018

Investor Reporting system changes may reduce fatal edits

Effective April 4, Fannie Mae’s Investor Reporting system will be updated to accept more closed delinquency modifications under certain scenarios. This will result in reduced fatal edits for servicers. See the Feb. 20 release notes for additional information, and visit the Investor Reporting page for resources, including the Remitting Calendar.

Updates to the Servicer Expense Reimbursement Job Aid

Because the LoanSphere Invoicing™ release has been delayed, we’ve updated the implementation timeframes for the new post-payment review queue and the non-recoverable indicator in the Servicer Expense Reimbursement Job Aid. Visit the Servicer Expense Reimbursement page to view the updated job aid and other resources related to LoanSphere Invoicing.

Join us at these upcoming events:

View more events.

You may also be interested in…

Searching for answers on the lack of affordable housing supply
A recent symposium in Los Angeles is one of several planned to discuss how to increase the supply of affordable housing in California, and nationwide. Read more

Receive regular content updates by registering at The Home Story.

Recent Tweets

A new study finds that many Americans lack confidence in various institutions to safeguard and protect their digital personal information. Read more in our new Perspectives blog:
http://bit.ly/2BILyH0

Feb. 20

Long-term interest rates are rising and markets have been volatile. But @D2_Duncan is sticking with his forecast for 2.7 percent real GDP growth in 2018.
http://bit.ly/2BC8ub7

Feb. 20

Source: Fannie Mae