Fannie Mae Updates Single-Family Mortgage Modifications Requirements

Fannie Mae Updates Single-Family Mortgage Modifications Requirements

On April 4, 2011, Fannie Mae released a Servicing Guide Announcement in which we updated the requirements for modifying conventional single-family mortgage loans in our portfolio or backing our mortgage-backed securities (MBS). We are requiring our servicers to implement the revised requirements for all mortgage loans evaluated for modification on or after April 15, 2011.

The requirements described in the Servicing Announcement relate to modifications of conventional loans for certain borrowers who either were ineligible for a modification under our Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) or who received a HAMP modification but then defaulted on their HAMP payments.

The Servicing Announcement describes the following requirement that has been part of our current practice when providing non-HAMP modifications to borrowers:

• The borrower must not have defaulted on more than one prior modification relating to the mortgage loan, and any prior modification default must not have occurred within 12 months of evaluating the borrower for the new modification.

The Announcement also describes the following requirements, which are new for our servicers when evaluating borrowers for non-HAMP modifications:

• The servicer must document the borrower's financial hardship with an affidavit signed by the borrower.
• The servicer must put the borrower on a trial period plan and the borrower must be current under the terms of that plan in order to receive a permanent modification.
• The servicer must waive all late charges, penalties, or other similar fees upon the borrower receiving a permanent modification.

Please refer to the Servicing Announcement for additional details and requirements in connection with non-HAMP Fannie Mae modifications. Although the Servicing Announcement describes these details and requirements, we remind investors that our current general policy is to purchase most loans from our MBS pools when the loans become delinquent as to four or more consecutive monthly installments.

Market participants should consult our June 1, 2009 Single-Family MBS Prospectus for additional information regarding our trust agreement provisions and servicing practices regarding troubled loans, including purchases of delinquent loans from MBS trusts.

Certain statements in this announcement may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements about our plans to purchase loans from trusts. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations in these and other forward-looking statements include servicer capacity issues as well as those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and our reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, filed with the SEC and available on the Investors page of our Web site at www.fanniemae.com and the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov.

Investors may also contact our Fixed-Income Securities Helpline at 1-800-BEST MBS (1-800-237-8627) if they have additional questions.

Originally Published: April 4, 2011