Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2024-11 (Bulletin) announcing revisions to the Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide. Per the Bulletin, Freddie Mac:
- Clarified Freddie Mac’s disaster and relief policies by:
- Updating the glossary definition of “Eligible Disaster” to remove the requirement that the impacted property or place of employment be in an eligible disaster area (as long as the impacted property has an insured loss);
- Reminding servicer’s to use Default Reason Code 034 to report mortgages that are 31 or more days delinquent and affected by a disaster;
- Clarifying that the disaster and relief policy requirements set forth in Guide Section 9206.5(e) (pertaining to flex modifications and special requirements for borrowers impacted by an eligible disaster) apply to borrowers who were current or less than 60 days delinquent as of the date the eligible disaster occurred; and
- Removing the reference to eligible disaster areas from Guide Section 9206.5(e).
- Updated documentation requirements to confirm that all documentation related to the application for an assumption related to a transfer of ownership must be kept in the mortgage file (including, if Loan Product Advisor was used to assess creditworthiness for the assumption, the last assumption feedback certificate);
- Updated accounting cycle policies by:
- Allowing understated or overstated principal reductions in the current accounting cycle (previously prohibited); and
- Removing the requirement for servicers to obtain Freddie Mac approval in instances when the overstated principal reduction exceeds $3,000 (servicers may now correct overstated principal reductions in the current accounting cycle by reporting Exception Code 80 (Principal Balance Correction) in the Loan Level Reporting tool).
Revisions related to accounting cycle policies are effective September 1, 2024. All other revisions are effective August 14, 2024.
Click to view the Freddie Mac Guide Bulletin 2024-11: https://www.tenaco.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Freddie-Mac-Guide-Bulletin-2024-11-08-14-24.pdf
