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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

FHFA OIG Issues Report on Servicers' Borrower Complaint Handling

Freddie Mac Mortgage Servicing FHFA Consumer Complaints Servicing Guide

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Today, the FHFA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report on servicers’ handling of borrower complaints, following an audit to assess FHFA’s oversight of Freddie Mac’s controls over servicers’ handling of escalated cases. Under the  Servicing Alignment Initiative (SAI), servicers are required to track the escalated cases they receive - specifically defined to include any of five categories of complaints - and resolve those cases within 30 days. In addition, Freddie Mac’s Servicing Guide requires servicers to report monthly on escalated cases status, including when received and how resolved. According to the report, the audit revealed that (i) most of Freddie Mac’s servicers are not complying with reporting requirements for escalated cases, (ii) Freddie Mac’s oversight of servicer compliance has been inadequate, and (iii) the FHFA did not identify the foregoing problems through its own examination of Freddie Mac’s implementation of the SAI. In response, the OIG recommends that FHFA (i) ensure that Freddie Mac requires its servicers to report, timely resolve, and accurately categorize escalated cases, (ii) ensure that Freddie Mac enhances its oversight of its servicers through testing servicer performance and establishing fines for noncompliance, and (iii) improve its oversight of Freddie Mac by developing and implementing examination guidance related to testing the implementation of directives. Following receipt of the report, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Cummings (D-MD) called for a hearing on borrower complaint handling by servicers.