As previously reported, in an Announcement dated May 29, 2015, Freddie Mac has stated that beginning June 1, 2015 the use of Loan Prospector will be free for all new loan submissions. Loan Prospector is Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting system which provides feedback to lenders on loan eligibility as well as minimum documentation requirements for underwriting the loan transaction.
Not to be outdone by its competitor, on June 23, 2015, Fannie Mae announced that it will eliminate fees on its Desktop Underwriter (DU) automated underwriting system – effective immediately. This action is designed to allow more lenders to utilize DU to assist in their underwriting functions to enable better quality processing.
In addition, Fannie Mae indicated that it has enhanced its Early Check loan verification tool with additional loan-level data integrity capabilities.
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With much publicity, Fannie Mae rolled out its Collateral Underwriter (CU) appraisal risk assessment tool for approved lenders on January 26, 2015. CU provides lenders with a risk score, flags and messages upon submission of an appraisal report through Fannie Mae’s Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP).
To date, it has been reported that over 300,000 appraisals have been reviewed thus far using this tool. Best of all, it is also free of charge to Fannie Mae sellers and non-seller correspondents.
Lastly, Freddie Mac has successfully launched a new website that is designed to assist prospective homebuyers and renters with answers to frequently asked questions to renting & buying a home in today’s marketplace.
Such websites can be extremely useful to all of those Millennials out there that are contemplating purchasing or renting a home for the first time. The website can be accessed at the following link:
Resources available at this site include: videos covering key facts of home ownership from industry experts, consumer-related materials and helpful infographics.
It is a win-win for everyone involved in a loan transaction to be fully informed and well-educated on the home buying process. These recent actions by the GSE’s certainly enhance these efforts.