InfoBytes Blog
Freddie Mac Withdraws Fraud Training Requirement, Updates Various Selling Requirements
On November 15, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2013-23, which withdraws recently announced fraud training requirements and describes various changes to other requirements. Citing the need to assess industry feedback, Fannie Mae withdrew Bulletin 2013-18, which required, among other things, that seller/servicers provide third-party vendors retained to perform functions relating to origination and servicing of mortgages with training on fraud prevention, detection, and reporting. In addition, Bulletin 2013-23 (i) updates payment history verification requirements for manually underwritten mortgages; (ii) announces that previously announced eligibility requirements applicable to higher-priced mortgage loans (HPMLs) are applicable to higher-priced covered transactions (as defined in the CFPB ability to repay/qualified mortgage rule) and not solely to HPMLs; (iii) updates certain requirements for Freddie Mac Relief Refinance Mortgages; (iv) updates requirements for verifying tax information for borrowers with income derived from sources in Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and (v) clarifies signature requirements for security instruments.