Freddie Mac Creates Short Sale Timeline, Requires Servicers to Provide Weekly Updates

In an effort to make the short sale process more transparent, Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) is updating its timelines and also requiring servicers to provide weekly updates when decisions take more than 30 days after the receipt of a complete application for a short sale under the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) initiative or Freddie Mac's traditional requirements. All decisions must be made within 60-days. The most recent announcement marks the newest part of the Servicing Alignment Initiative (SAI) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae launched in 2011 at the direction of their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to set consistent servicing and delinquency management requirements. Last year Freddie Mac completed 45,623 short sales, a 140 percent increase since the housing crisis began.

Freddie Mac's new short sale timelines require servicers to make a decision within 30 days of receiving either 1) an offer on a property under Freddie Mac's traditional short sale program or 2) a completed Borrower Response Package (BRP) requesting consideration for a short sale under HAFA or Freddie Mac's traditional short sale program. (BRPs are standardized assistance applications developed as part of the Servicing Alignment Initiative.)

If more than 30 days are needed, borrowers must receive weekly status updates and a decision no later than 60 days from the date the complete BRP is received. This will help servicers who may need more time to obtain a broker price opinion or a private mortgage insurer's approval on a BRP or property offer.

In the event a servicer makes a counteroffer, the borrower is expected to respond within five business days. The servicer must then respond within 10 business days of receiving the borrower's response.

Freddie Mac will use the new timelines to evaluate servicer compliance with the SAI and its own servicing requirements.

Freddie Mac completed 45,623 short sales in 2011, a 140 percent increase since 2009. Overall, Freddie Mac has also helped more than 615,000 distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure since the housing crisis began.

"Short sales are more complex than routine home sales since they may involve multiple parties and long-distance negotiating,” says Tracy Mooney, Senior Vice President, Single-Family Servicing and REO, Freddie Mac. “Freddie Mac's new timelines are intended to help make the decision process more transparent and timely for short-sales under the Obama Administration's HAFA program or Freddie Mac's traditional short-sale option. Today's announcement underscores our commitment to help reduce credit losses and taxpayer risks by supporting more opportunities for sustained occupancy in our nation's homes."

For more information, visit www.FreddieMac.com.