MPF Announcement 2021-15

Impact of COVID-19 on MPF Xtra Servicing

Effective Date: Immediately (unless otherwise noted)

Fannie Mae issued updates to the COVID-19 Servicing Lender Letters, communicating updates to temporary policies previously announced. The policies in the Lender Letters are effective immediately and are effective until Fannie Mae provides further notice, unless otherwise stated.

Updates to Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2021-02 - Impact of COVID-19 on Servicing

• Updated requirements related to forbearance plans for Borrowers who are reaching a cumulative forbearance plan term of 12 months, if the Borrower’s hardship has not been resolved, the Servicer is authorized to grant an extension of the forbearance plan term of up to 3 months.
• Extended the suspension of foreclosure-related activities through March 31, 2021. During the period of the extension, Servicers may not, except with respect to a vacant or abandoned property, initiate any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process, move for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or execute a foreclosure sale.

Updates to Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2021-07 (formerly LL-2020-07) - COVID-19 Payment Deferral

• Updated the eligibility criteria to:
  • permit the mortgage loan to be less than or equal to 15 months delinquent as of the date of evaluation, and
  • eliminate the limit of one COVID-19 payment deferral and instead limit the COVID-19 payment deferral to a cumulative deferral of 15 months of past-due principal and interest (P&I) payments.

PFIs and Servicers originating, delivering or servicing:

• MPF Traditional (Conventional) loans must follow the policies and guidance recently issued by the MPF Program. Please visit the MPF Website to view recently published MPF Announcements.

• MPF Government loans and MPF Government MBS loans, must follow policies and guidance issued by the applicable Government Agencies.

• MPF Direct loans, must follow policies and guidance issued by the product’s investor, Redwood Trust.

To gain a full understanding of these topics, Servicers should review the entire Fannie Mae Lender Letter plus any applicable Fannie Mae Servicing Guide chapters, forms, or exhibits noted in the announcement.