Fannie updates Covid-19 payment deferral provisions

Federal Issues Fannie Mae Mortgages Escrow Mortgage Servicing Consumer Finance Covid-19

On November 17, Fannie Mae reissued LL-2021-07 to provide updated requirements for servicers when evaluating a borrower for a Covid-19 payment deferral offer. The updated lender letter was originally published in November 2020 and updated in February 2021 (covered by InfoBytes here). Specifically, the revisions update requirements related to performing an escrow analysis, and require single-family servicers to: (i) perform an escrow analysis when evaluating borrower for Covid-19 payment deferrals; (ii) “inform the borrower of the full monthly contractual payment based on repayment of any escrow shortage amount over a term of 60 months before the borrower can accept the COVID-19 payment deferral offer”; and (iii) “spread any escrow shortage repayment amount in equal monthly payments over a period of 60 months, unless the borrower decides to pay the escrow shortage amount in a lump sum up-front or over a shorter period (not less than 12 months) for a COVID-19 payment deferral or a Flex Modification for COVID-19 impacted borrowers.” Changes apply to a Fannie Mae Flex Modification and a Disaster Payment Deferral and will be incorporated into the Servicing Guide in February 2022. The provisions in the lender letter are effective until further notice. Fannie Mae encourages servicers to implement these policy changes immediately but no later than March 1, 2022.