Excessively delaying Fannie Mae foreclosures will now cost servicers

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010, 10:13 am

Fannie Mae will now review the compensatory fees due to servicers in cases where the government sponsored entity feel servicers are unnecessarily delaying foreclosure.

In a letter sent to servicers, Fannie Mae said it plans to review compensation when it deems applicable, stating that loans "must not be put on hold on a blanket basis."

Fannie Mae is clear that servicers must not jump the gun either, but rather must follow the letter of the law as it pertains to HAMP/HAFA guidelines.

In a July speech, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, told loss mitigation servicers that, "if you have an abandoned property or a borrower not willing to discuss or work with anything, then get going [and foreclose]," he advised.

Fannie Mae allows several exceptions in the case where the property is occupied, unless "the borrower has displayed an obvious lack of concern for the mortgage obligation."

In cases where the property is vacant or the borrower is not going to pay any of the mortgage, "servicers must expedite foreclosure proceedings under the greatest extent allowable by law."