Safeguard Properties

Freddie Mac: Quick Takes: Your Snapshot into Investor Reporting Success

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Investor Update
December 7, 2017

By now, you should be familiar with the Investor Reporting Change Initiative, which will move us closer to an industry standard reporting cycle beginning on the first of the month. It is a lot of work, and we know the information that comes along with these changes may feel complicated to navigate.

Today, we launched Quick Takes, a new resource with easy-to-digest tips about the initiative, plus answers to common questions you may have between now and when the initiative is implemented in May 2019.

You’re One Quick Take Away from:

  • Insights into staying on task
  • Reporting examples and scenarios
  • Status checks
  • Quick resources
  • Q&A’s

Subscribe

Subscribe to Quick Takes and discover:

  • Supplemental information to help answer your questions.
  • Tips to keep you informed on changes, and help stay you on track.
  • At-a-glance information about where you should be in the initiative.

For More Information

Source: Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac: Holiday Eviction Suspension

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Investor Update
December 11, 2017

Freddie Mac is suspending all scheduled eviction lockouts from December 18, 2017 through January 2, 2018. The eviction lockout suspension applies to all foreclosed occupied Single-Family homes and 2-4 unit properties that are now Freddie Mac Real Estate Owned (REO).

As a reminder, Freddie Mac has suspended all foreclosure sales in Eligible Disaster Areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey, Irma or Maria through the end of 2017.

For More Information

  • Review our press release.
  • Direct questions to your Freddie Mac representative or contact the Customer Support Contact Center (800-FREDDIE).

Source: Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac: Consolidated Scorecard Now Available

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Investor Update
December 12, 2017

Your enhanced consolidated Servicer Success Scorecard (Scorecard) is now available with synthetic performance, trend and rank data. This Scorecard provides you with a consolidated view of your performance across your servicing portfolio using the same metrics as your master servicing Scorecard.

Other updates include:

  • Republishing the October Scorecard to exclude disaster forbearance loans from certain metrics that should have excluded them.
  • Improving the Servicer Performance Profile homepage to provide you with faster and more responsive navigation.

For More Information

Source: Freddie Mac

FHLMC Guide Bulletin 2017-27: Servicing Updates

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Investor Update
December 13, 2017

Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) Bulletin 2017-27 [pdf] includes updates and reminders that impact your processes. With this Guide Bulletin, we are:

  • Notifying you that Workout Prospector® will be updated by February 26, 2018 to accommodate data submissions and reporting to Freddie Mac related to the new imminent default evaluation requirements.
  • Providing guidance on how to process and report imminent default data using Workout Prospector.
  • Updating the Guide to reflect the Manager Series reports and their new locations in the redesigned Servicer Performance Profile.
  • Providing information on changes announced in Guide Bulletin 2017-26 [pdf] that impact Servicers.

For more details on these changes and other important updates, read Guide Bulletin 2017-27 [pdf] or contact your Freddie Mac representative.

Source: Freddie Mac

FHLMC Guide 2017-29: Extension of Foreclosure Sale Suspension in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

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Investor Update
December 20, 2017

With Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) Bulletin 2017-29 we’re extending the suspension of all foreclosure sales in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through March 31, 2018. The extension will help ensure your borrowers continue to receive the assistance they need while recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma or Hurricane Maria.

Previously announced foreclosure sale suspensions in other states are not impacted by this announcement and will expire on December 31, 2017.

For more information on this extension read Guide Bulletin 2017-29 [pdf] or contact your Freddie Mac representative.

Source: Freddie Mac

FHFA: Third Quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report Shows Foreclosure Preventions Top 3.9 Million

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Investor Update
December 21, 2017

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its third quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report, which shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 41,465 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter of 2017, bringing the total number of troubled homeowners helped to 3,972,689 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008.  The number of early stage (30-59 days) delinquent loans rose 25 percent in the third quarter driven primarily by the impact of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.  A variety of mortgage relief options are available for those affected by natural disasters, including these hurricanes.

FHFA’s report includes data on the Enterprises’ home retention actions, delinquency data and real estate owned (REO) inventory.  FHFA publishes the report data in an online, interactive Borrower Assistance Map on FHFA.gov. 

Other foreclosure prevention data noted in the quarterly report include:

  • Of the foreclosure prevention actions, nearly 3.3 million have helped troubled homeowners stay in their homes, including more than 2.1 million permanent loan modifications.
  • The Enterprises’ serious delinquency rate remained flat at 0.95 percent at the end of the third quarter.
  • The Enterprises’ REO inventory declined 8 percent in the third quarter.

Link to Report
 
The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $6.0 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions. Additional information is available at www.FHFA.gov, on Twitter @FHFA, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Contacts: 
Media: Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032 / Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030
Consumers: Consumer Communications or (202) 649-3811

Source: FHFA

FHFA: Refinance Report

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Investor Update
December 14, 2017

October 2017 Highlights

  • Total refinance volume increased in October 2017 as mortgage rates in September remained below the levels observed at the beginning of the year.  Mortgage rates increased in October: the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose to 3.90 percent from 3.81 percent in September.

In October 2017:

  • Borrowers completed 2,184 refinances through HARP, bringing total refinances from the inception of the program to 3,479,901.
  • HARP volume represented 2 percent of total refinance volume.
  • Seven percent of the loans refinanced through HARP had a loan-to-value ratio greater than 125 percent.  

Year to date through October 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 5 or more percent of total refinances in Nevada, Illinois, and Florida — more than double the 2 percent of total refinances nationwide over the same period.
  • 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 60 percent of the nation’s HARP eligible loans with a refinance incentive as of June 30, 2017.

Attachments: Refinance Report – October 2017

Source: FHFA

FHFA: Further Data on Non-performing Loan Sales

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Investor Update
December 5, 2017

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released its fourth report providing information about the sale of non-performing loans (NPLs) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).  The Enterprise Non-Performing Loan Sales Report includes information about NPLs sold through June 30, 2017.  It reflects borrower outcomes as of June 30, 2017, on NPLs sold through December 31, 2016.  The sale of NPLs reduces the number of severely delinquent loans in the Enterprises’ portfolios.  FHFA and the Enterprises impose requirements on NPL buyers  to encourage prioritization of outcomes for borrowers other than foreclosure. 

This fourth report shows that, through June 30, 2017, the Enterprises sold 82,359 NPLs representing a total unpaid principal balance (UPB) of $16 billion.

  • NPLs sold had an average delinquency of 3.3 years and an average current loan-to-value ratio of 97 percent.
  • NPLs in New Jersey, New York and Florida represented nearly half (47 percent) of the NPLs sold.  These three states also accounted for 47 percent of the Enterprises’ loans that were one year or more delinquent as of December 31, 2014.
  • A nonprofit organization, Community Loan Fund of New Jersey (CLFNJ), along with its affiliate, New Jersey Community Capital, was the winning bidder on 10 of 12 small, geographically concentrated NPL pools sold by June 30, 2017.

The borrower outcomes in the report are based on the 69,804 NPLs that were settled by December 31, 2016 and reported through June 30, 2017.  These outcomes reflect the following:

  • NPLs on homes occupied by borrowers had the highest rate of foreclosure avoidance outcomes (21.2 percent foreclosure avoided versus 9.9 percent for vacant properties).
  • NPLs on vacant homes had a much higher rate of foreclosure, nearly double the foreclosure rate of borrower-occupied properties (47.8 percent foreclosure versus 19.3 percent for borrower occupied properties).  Foreclosures on vacant homes typically improve neighborhood stability and reduce blight as the homes are sold or rented to new occupants.
  • Compared to a benchmark of similarly delinquent Enterprise NPLs that were not sold, foreclosures avoided for sold NPLs were higher than the benchmark.  Thirty?six percent of NPLs that have been with the new servicers the longest (1,737 NPLs with new servicers for 26 months) avoided foreclosure, compared to 24 percent of the benchmark NPLs.
  • Fourteen percent of the permanent modifications of NPLs provided arrearage and/or principal forgiveness.  The average forgiveness earned per loan to date was $30,443 (with the potential to earn an average forgiveness of $60,586).

FHFA will continue to provide reporting on NPL sales borrower outcomes on an ongoing basis.

Link to Non-Performing Loan Sales Report

Link to NPL page on FHFA.gov
 
The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $5.9 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions. Additional information is available at www.FHFA.gov, on Twitter @FHFA, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Contacts: 
Media: Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032 / Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030

Consumers: Consumer Communications or (202) 649-3811

Source: FHFA

FHFA: Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Underserved Markets Plans for Duty to Serve Program Published

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Investor Update
December 18, 2017

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today published Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s (the Enterprises) Underserved Markets Plans for 2018-2020 under the Duty to Serve program.  The Plans become effective January 1, 2018.

FHFA issued a final rule on December 13, 2016 to implement the Duty to Serve provisions mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.  The statute requires the Enterprises to serve three specified underserved markets – manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing – by increasing the liquidity of mortgage financing, for very low-, low-, and moderate-income families. 

The rule requires each Enterprise to adopt a three-year Underserved Markets Plan to fulfill this mandate.  The activities proposed by the Enterprises to achieve the objectives in their Plans will continue to be subject to FHFA review and approval to ensure compliance with the Enterprises’ Charter Acts, safety and soundness, and other conservatorship and regulatory requirements.

“I congratulate Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHFA staff for the work they have done to reach this significant milestone.  The tough challenges associated with implementation are still ahead, however, to ensure that the Plans meet affordable housing needs in underserved markets around the country.  FHFA looks forward to working with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and stakeholders to ensure that the Plans serve their statutory purposes and do so in a safe and sound manner,” said FHFA Director Melvin L Watt. 

FHFA published the Plans today on its dedicated webpage, www.FHFA.gov/DTS. 

Link to Fannie Mae’s Underserved Markets Plan

Link to Freddie Mac’s Underserved Markets Plan
 
The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $5.9 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions. Additional information is available at www.FHFA.gov, on Twitter @FHFA, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Contacts: 
Media: Stefanie Johnson (202) 649-3030 / Corinne Russell (202) 649-3032
Consumers: Consumer Communications or (202) 649-3811

Source: FHFA

Additional Resources:

Fannie Mae (Fannie Mae Publishes Final Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Plan)

Freddie Mac (New Duty to Serve Plan Supports Underserved Markets)

Fannie Mae: Servicing Guide Is Updated, SMDU Enhancements; Mortgage Assistance Application in Spanish; and More

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Investor Update
December 13, 2017

Announcement SVC-2017-11: Servicing Guide Updates

The Fannie Mae Servicing Guide has been updated to simplify servicing and make it easier to do business with us. These changes:

  • Streamline the Selling and Servicing Guides by removing certain topics from Servicing Guide Part A pertaining to the ownership and retention of loan files. These topics will be updated and included in the Selling Guide on Dec. 19.
  • Establish an expense reimbursement of up to $30 for servicers required to obtain an insured loss repair inspection on a current or delinquent mortgage loan.
  • Remove the requirement that servicers must report damage to us following an uninsured loss event. See Lender Letter LL-2017-07 for more details.

For a summary of key updates in Servicing Guide Announcement SVC-2017-11, view the executive overview from Carlos Perez, Chief Credit Officer for Single-Family.

Enhancements to SMDU coming this weekend

This weekend, Fannie Mae will implement enhancements to Servicing Management Default Underwriter™ (SMDU™). Please refer to the SMDU Version 7.6 release notes for more information. As a reminder, to implement this release, SMDU will be unavailable to process transactions from 10 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 15 until 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 16. If you have questions about this release, please contact your Fannie Mae Servicing Account Manager.

Mortgage Assistance Application in Spanish

The Mortgage Assistance Application (Form 710) is now available in Spanish (Form 710s) to help servicers communicate with Spanish-speaking customers during the loss mitigation process. This is just one of the Spanish Language Resources for Servicers we provide to help make it easier to serve borrowers.

Find your way around Fannie Mae with the Quarterly Compass

Need some direction on where to find information on Fannie Mae technology enhancements, updated policies, and training opportunities? Catch the last Quarterly Compass of the year, which highlights the best of Q4 2017 and what’s to come in 2018. In case you missed something, you’ll also get the latest news on originating and underwriting, servicing, affordable lending, and much more.

New reports and features on Fannie Mae Connect

Over the weekend of Dec. 9, we added new reports and improved the user interface in Fannie Mae Connect™ to help you better access the information you need to drive your business. A few highlights include: 

  • A more robust View All Reports page in the Report Center provides the full list of reports available on Fannie Mae Connect. Hovering over a report name on this page will display the description and other information.
  • The launch of two new reports and updates to others.

Review the Release Tracker and Report Directory for more information on these and all the latest changes in Fannie Mae Connect. If you do not have access to Fannie Mae Connect, please contact your Corporate Administrator.

Coming soon: New annual certification platform

The Fannie Mae Lender Record Information Form 582 has been re-imagined and redesigned to provide a better customer experience. Beginning with the Dec. 31 fiscal year-end and corresponding Mar. 31 submission deadline, Fannie Mae Sellers/Servicers will use the new platform to complete their annual certification. Features of the new platform include intuitive navigation, progress indicators, information carry-over from previous years, download and print options, and more. We will automatically provide access to the new platform to the individuals who have access to the legacy Form 582 platform. We’ll also move information from your prior year certifications and any data that might have been updated since your last submission to the new platform.

More information about the transition to the new platform will be provided to Sellers/Servicers in early January.

Reminder: Year-end availability for AMN/HSSN and SMDU Case Management

Due to year-end processing, AMN/HSSN will shut down at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 30 and will not be available again until 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

As a result, SMDU Case Management functionality will also be unavailable during the above-noted downtime. SMDU Auto-Decisioning functionality will be available.

In preparation for year-end activity and to ensure all HSSN workout bulk uploads are processed prior to the system becoming unavailable, we suggest that all HSSN bulk workout case activity be submitted no later than noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 30.

Join us at these upcoming events:

Jan. 22-25 | MBA Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference | Amelia Island, FL
Feb. 6-7 | Texas MBA Southern Secondary Market Conference | Houston
Feb. 6-9 | MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo | Grapevine, TX

View more events.

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Meet one of the industry’s newest CMBs, Fannie Mae’s Christy Moss
Just over 1,200 industry professionals have received MBA’s highest professional distinction. Read more

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MBA is helping industry women connect, in person and online. Read more

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Recent Tweets

The number of gig economy workers, people making money by offering services such as ride sharing, has grown. Now our researchers look at whether or not these consumers plan to buy a home.
http://bit.ly/2C35VMS

Dec. 11

We’re suspending evictions of foreclosed single-family properties between Dec. 18, 2017-Jan. 2, 2018. We encourage homeowners who may be struggling w/ their mortgage to reach out to their servicer for help, or contact us at 1-800-232-6643. #KnowYourOptions
http://bit.ly/2kYDEmA

Dec. 11

Source: Fannie Mae