Delays in the implementation of the Uniform Mortgage Data Program are slowing down advancement of third-party technology to integrate with the delivery platforms of appraisal data.
Neither government-sponsored enterprise would make officials available for interviews about the status of the program - a Federal Housing Finance Agency-mandated initiative to incorporate electronic data delivery in the loan and appraisal process that's been marred by delays and setbacks.
Under the UMDP umbrella is the creation of new technology for electronic appraisal data delivery, called the Uniform Collateral Data Portal, and electronic delivery of a set standard for mortgage and appraisal data points, called the Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset and the Uniform Appraisal Dataset, respectively.
Fannie and Freddie offered written responses to limited questions from Mortgage Technology. As previously reported, Freddie Mac acknowledged the delay to the scheduled October launch of the UCDP was due to the later addition of the UAD - which has in turn caused delays down the line for third-party providers responsible for creating technology to use the UCDP.
"The GSEs initially anticipated that the UCDP would be launched before the roll-out of the UAD. However, the GSEs later decided to enhance the UCDP by adding the capability to perform a UAD compliance check. Consequently it made sense to rollout the UAD and the UCDP simultaneously, which the GSEs did by extending both deadlines to the same date," said Annette Best, Freddie's senior product director, in a written statement.
Best also echoed previous GSE statements from a series of lender letters in December that the delay was in part to help the industry by giving it more time to implement not only the UAD and UMDP, but also the ULDD.
"Extending the deadlines for the UDA (sic) and UCDP provided additional time to ensure a successful rollout and adoption of the entire UMDP," Best continued.
Fannie Mae said third-party vendors began working on new UCDP technology in summer 2010. But the inclusion of the UAD in the UCDP protocol means vendors - like the companies that produce electronic appraisal documents and services - have to go back and ensure their technology meets the changed requirements. The latest UCDP deadline has the portal launching in June 2011, and Fannie Mae said vendors will begin bringing new appraisal documents to market by April 2011.
"Vendors planning to build integrations to UCDP received integration materials beginning last summer, and received technical specifications in December that included the new UAD compliance check," said Piper Beveridge, a Fannie director of product development and management, in a written statement. "The GSEs will be actively engaging lenders and vendors regarding integration activity beginning in January and continuing until the mandate dates."
So far, Veros, the technology company that won the contract to develop the UCDP, is the only vendor to publicly announce an upgrade to its appraisal management system to interface with the UCDP.
The delays have been met with mixed response. Lenders and the appraisal industry like having the additional time to meet the new compliance requirements, but critics believe the uncertainty brought on by the delays-including whether the newest deadlines will actually be enforced-raises questions over how an initiative with as much broad industry impact is being managed.
Best declined to answer questions about the Freddie's previous efforts in creating a technology portal to accept electronic appraisal data. Veros was previously awarded two separate contracts, one from each GSE, to build a similar platform unique to each company.
Fannie's version, called the Collateral Data Delivery platform, is up and running for use on a voluntary basis, while Freddie's project was scraped in place of the UCDP. But Best and Freddie Mac would not say how far into development its comparable version of the CDD was before work was halted.
The FHFA mandated the joint technology portal for appraisal data in the UMDP, but has not issued a similar directive for the delivery of the mortgage document data points in the ULDD, leaving both companies working independently on their respective loan delivery systems.
"The GSEs are updating their existing, respective loan delivery applications to accept the ULDD-compliant data. There will not be a joint platform for delivery of the ULDD," said Lynn Calahan, a Fannie Mae director product development and management, in a written statement.
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