Fannie Mae has released Announcement 06-27 titled, "Introduction of the Fannie Mae Single-Family MBS Master Trust Agreement." With this Announcement, Fannie Mae amends it core requirements for servicers managing both its fixed and adjustable rate loans, including new requirements for default management and loan administration.

The effective date of the new Single-Family MBS Master Trust Agreement (the "Trust Agreement") will be announced during the first quarter of 2007. The issuance of this announcement is to allow servicers an opportunity to fully understand the enhancements, consider the impact to their business processes, and determine how much time will be necessary to implement them.

Key among the changes are new requirements for approved custodial depositories, including a revised set of guidelines covering which institutions will be considered eligible for servicers’ deposit receipts. Servicers will be subject to a 120 day deadline to transfer funds out of a non-approved bank.

Fannie Mae also announced that it is changing requirements for full payoffs, allowing servicers to elect whether to record payoffs on the date payment was received or on the last date interest was charged. The election will be recorded annually, and will not carry throug h to subservicers, who will be responsible for their own elections.

For foreclosures, Fannie Mae is amending its requirements to require that foreclosure be initiated within 200 days of delinquency. In the past, Fannie had not provided servicers with a specific outside date by which foreclosure must begin.

Other changes include the following:

• forebearances may only be granted for no more than four contiguous months
  
• repayment plans must bring borrowers current within 18 months from start of adjusted payments
  
• Fannie Mae will have the option to repurchase mortgage loans out of MBS pools at any time, regardless of their delinquency status, if the property has been damaged by a disaster, terrorist attack, or other natural or manmade catastrophe not caused by the borrower, which causes a reduction in value of at least five percent.
• any loan past due for 24 months must be repurchased from its MBS pool

Any questions regarding this announcement, should be submitted to the respective Servicing Consultant or Customer Account Manager, or directly to the Fannie Mae National Servicing Organization’s Customer Care Center at 1-888-326-6438.

To access the Announcement in its entirety, please click here