In Mortgagee Letter 2020-40, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) extended the effective date for certain guidance related to the COVID-19 national emergency from November 30, 2020, to December 31, 2020....more
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac extended certain loan origination flexibilities due to COVID-19 from November 30, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The changes occurred November 13, 2020, through Fannie Mae updates to Lender Letter...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-34, dated October 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) extended the date for approving an initial COVID-19 forbearance with an FHA loan, or a COVID-19 extension with a...more
On October 19, 2020, Fannie Mae in updates to Lender Letter 2020-03 and Lender Letter 2020-04, as well as Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-40, extended certain loan origination flexibilities due to COVID-19 from October 31, 2020,...more
As previously reported, in April 2020 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) issued a statement criticizing how mortgage servicer websites were providing information on the...more
10/5/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
FHA Loans ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
OIG ,
Online Platforms ,
Websites
As previously reported, the federal banking agencies announced an interim final rule in April 2020 due to COVID-19 that allows for appraisals and evaluations of homes and other real property to be obtained up to 120 days...more
9/30/2020
/ Appraisal ,
Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Rules ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
National Housing Act (NHA) ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions
On September 24, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the purchase of loans in a COVID-19 forbearance by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through October 31, 2020. Additionally, FHFA announced...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-30 dated September 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides guidance on the underwriting of applicants for FHA insured mortgage loans who were granted a previous...more
As previously reported, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced that there are no plans to extend the eligibility for purchase of loans in a COVID-19 forbearance for loans with note dates after August 31, 2020....more
As previously reported, subject to conditions, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will purchase loans in a COVID-19 forbearance if the eligible loans have note dates through August 31, 2020. One of the conditions is an additional...more
Companion bills were recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 6794) and the U.S. Senate (S. 4260) to create the Promoting Access to Credit for Homebuyers Act of 2020. The Act would require Fannie Mae and...more
On August 3, 2020, Fannie Mae updated its COVID-19 servicing FAQs to add an FAQ regarding a COVID-19 forbearance plan with a period of less than 180 days. The FAQ says...more
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac previously announced that, subject to conditions, the agencies will purchase loans in a COVID-19 forbearance. Also, in June 2020, the agencies extended eligible loans to those with note dates...more
On July 29, 2020, Freddie Mac updated its COVID-19 Selling FAQs. ...more
As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2020-23, dated July 28, 2020, to update COVID-19 national emergency guidance for FHA loans....more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2020-23, dated July 28, 2020, to update COVID-19 national emergency guidance for FHA loans. The guidance addresses the verification of...more
On July 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Circular 26-20-27, dated July 22, 2020, to address COVID-19 precautions for Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) project stakeholders....more
On July 15, 2020, Fannie Mae in an update to Lender Letter 2020-02 and Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-29 updated their COVID-19 servicing guidance to address insurance loss requirements and other matters. Fannie Mae also issued...more
On July 9, 2020, Fannie Mae in updates to Lender Letters 2020-03 and 2020-04 and Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-27 announced the further extension of origination guidance based on COVID-19 (the Freddie Mac action extends the...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-22, dated July 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) addresses the COVID-19 Loss Mitigation Options for FHA Title II single-family, forward mortgage loans. ...more
On July 1, 2020, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced cooperation with the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the development of a model remote notarization...more
On June 30 and July 1, 2020, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated their COVID-19 selling FAQs and servicing FAQs, which can be accessed here: Fannie Mae selling FAQs and servicing FAQs; Freddie Mac selling FAQs and servicing...more
In Loan Guaranty Circular 26-20-25, dated June 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) addresses the effect of a CARES Act forbearance, or some other COVID-19 credit relief, on the eligibility of a veteran for...more
7/4/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan (IRRRL) ,
Loan Guaranties ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
VA Loans ,
Veterans ,
Veterans Administration
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-20 dated June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the extension of FHA temporary guidance regarding employment verification and appraisals due to COVID-19. The...more
On June 23, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted on its website an interim final rule that creates a temporary exception to certain loss mitigation obligations of mortgage loan servicers under...more