Today, we are informing you about two updates to our servicing requirements for the Home Affordable Modification program (HAMP), which include the following:

• Servicers will be required to use Workout Prospector® for evaluating all borrowers for a modification under HAMP.
• HAMP Modification Agreement, Trial Period Plan, and Hardship Affidavit have been revised and are now available online.

Workout Prospector Required for HAMP

So you have ample time to prepare, we are providing you with advance notice that beginning November 2009, Freddie Mac Servicers will be required to use Workout Prospector when evaluating all borrowers for a modification under HAMP. Once the borrower’s information has been entered into Workout Prospector, modifications that are unable to be completed through HAMP must continue to be evaluated for other foreclosure alternatives using Workout Prospector. Requirements and effective dates for entering data on mortgages with existing HAMP Trial Period Plans will be communicated in an upcoming Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) Bulletin.

In the meantime, if you currently have access to Workout Prospector, no further action on your part is necessary at this time. If, however, you don’t have access, you need to begin preparing for this new requirement by submitting your request for a Workout Prospector account using the steps below.

Workout Prospector helps you analyze and structure foreclosure alternatives on your Freddie Mac loans. In the coming weeks, we’ll be updating this online servicing tool for you to evaluate a borrower for a modification under HAMP. While you will ultimately make the decision pursuant to the standards set forth in the Guide, Workout Prospector will help operationalize the process. In the future, Freddie Mac plans to require Servicers to use Workout Prospector to process all foreclosure alternatives.

Create Your Workout Prospector Account

If you are a first-time user of Workout Prospector or need to update your account, please follow these quick and simple steps to create your account:

• Complete the online Workout Prospector registration form.
• Print a copy of the completed form for your records.
• Click submit. If your registration is successful, you will be directed to a confirmation page.
• Repeat steps one through three if you need to create more than 10 accounts.

To begin using Workout Prospector by November, you must submit your account request to us by September 18. If you do not submit your request to allow sufficient time to activate your account by the effective date, you may experience a delay in your HAMP modification processing.

Revised Legal Documents Now Available

In order to share first lien modification data with the second lien Servicer, the borrower must provide consent. Therefore, a revised HAMP Modification Agreement, Trial Period Plan, and Hardship Affidavit have been posted to our secure HAMP Web site. Servicers must begin using the revised legal documents no later than September 30, 2009, and may use them earlier if they so choose. Revisions to the various cover letters associated with the HAMP Trial Period Plan and Modification Agreement are under review, and the revised cover letters will be available at a future date. You are reminded that, while you are encouraged to use the various HAMP cover letters currently made available, you are authorized to revise them as necessary and may do so to address any of the changes that were recently made to the Modification Agreement, Trial Period Plan, and Hardship Affidavit.

We will be updating our Guide requirements in a future Guide Bulletin to accommodate the changes that were made to these legal documents. If you choose to use the revised Trial Period Plan and Modification Agreement prior to September 30, you do not need to make the authorized changes required under Guide Section C65.7 if it is already incorporated into the revised documents.

For More Information

• Contact your servicing representative or send us an e-mail at home_affordable_modification@freddiemac.com.
• Learn more about Workout Prospector.
• Visit Freddie Mac’s Home Affordable Modification program Web site.
• Visit our Learning Center for educational resources on the Home Affordable Modification program.
• Review information for borrowers about the federal Making Home Affordable program on the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Web site.

About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.