Freddie Mac to roll out fee-based repurchase pilot program in 2024

Freddie Mac will launch a brand new fee-based repurchase various pilot program for performing loans in 2024, designed to enhance the standard of performing loans via a possible alternative of its present repurchase coverage for faulty performing loans.
“The pilot will use a fee-based construction that’s extra environment friendly, clear and rewards lenders that ship high-quality loans,” the GSE said. “Particularly, lenders won’t be topic to repurchases on most performing loans and can as a substitute be topic to a fee-based construction based mostly on non-acceptable high quality (NAQ) charges.”
That payment uniformly applies to each medium- and large-sized lenders based mostly on NAQ charges, and will probably be waived for smaller lenders unable to ship quantity massive sufficient to generate an NAQ charge that’s “statistically vital.”
“Loans which are non-performing inside 36 months or topic to lifetime of mortgage defects will nonetheless be topic to repurchase,” Freddie Mac mentioned. “This payment construction will start with a restricted rollout with focused lenders in early 2024.”
Final month, Federal Housing Finance Company (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson mentioned that the GSEs should implement a good, constant and predictable course of for figuring out mortgage defects and the suitable treatments for them throughout an October occasion hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Affiliation (MBA) in Philadelphia.
“After a number of years of record-high mortgage quantity, we have now seen a rise within the absolute variety of repurchase requests – which is to be anticipated,” Thompson mentioned on the occasion. “The excellent news is that there was a big lower in repurchase requests since their peak in early 2022, because the Enterprises have labored via loans originated through the refinance growth.”
Thompson went on to say that each Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have examined their present processes and practices, which embrace enhancing the language in promoting pointers and offering extra constant suggestions to lenders on buybacks to attenuate ambiguity through the underwriting course of.