| 11/29/2023 - APM 23-13 | | Pursuant to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced increased conforming loan limits. Accordingly, Ginnie Mae is revising its definition of High Balance Loans as follows. Effective for pools or loan packages submitted on or after January 1, 2024, a High Balance Loan is defined as a single-family forward mortgage loan with an original principal balance (minus the amount of any upfront mortgage insurance premium) that exceeds the following limits:
Maximim Loan Amounts (net of any financed MIP or Guaranty Fee) |
| | | Units
| Contiguous 48 States, District of Columbis, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico
| Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
| 1
| $766,550
| $1,149,825
| 2
| $981,500
| $1,472,250
| 3
| $1,186,350
| $1,779,525
| 4
| $1,474,400
| $2,211,600
|
High Balance Loans are eligible for Ginnie Mae MBS subject to the restrictions detailed in Ch. 9, Part 2, § B and Ch. 24 Part 2, § A(1) of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide 5500.3, Rev-1 (“MBS Guide”). If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact your Account Executive in the Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management.
|
|
| 11/9/2023 - APM 23-12 | | As previously announced in APM 22-02 and APM 23-08, Ginnie Mae will complete the transition of Single Family [Forward] and Manufactured Housing Program pooling from GinnieNET to the new Single Family Pool Delivery Module (SFPDM) in MyGinnieMae on December 1, 2023. Since SFPDM became available to all Single Family and Manufactured Housing Issuers in April 2022, Ginnie Mae has monitored and supported the transition of Issuers to ensure smooth business operations in the adoption process. Following December 1, 2023, SFPDM will be the only application available for Single Family and Manufactured Housing pooling. HECM Issuers will continue pooling in GinnieNET.
As part of this transition to SFPDM, paper pooling for the Single Family and Manufactured Housing Programs will no longer be allowed and Issuers will have to complete all their pooling activities electronically. Paper pooling option will remain available for the Multifamily Program. For more information on changes following December 1, 2023, refer to Modernization Bulletin #30.
To align with the December 1, 2023 GinnieNET cutover of Single Family and Manufactured Housing Pooling functions, Ginnie Mae is implementing updates to the Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide 5500.3, Rev-1 (“MBS Guide”) to ensure that its policies and operational requirements are clearly and accurately reflected for Issuers. The MBS Guide chapters and appendices being revised by this announcement are listed below. The Glossary of the MBS Guide has also been updated accordingly. All updates are effective on December 1, 2023.
MBS Guide Chapter
| Chapter 4
| Issuer and Subservicers - Responsibilities
| Chapter 7
| Application for Approval as a Ginnie Mae Issuer
| Chapter 10
| Assembling and Submitting Pool and Loan Package Issuance Documents
| Chapter 12
| The Prospectus, Securities, and Securities Marketing
| Chapter 13
| Document Custodians - Eligibility and Responsbilities
| Chapter 18
| Mortgage Delinquency and Default
| Chapter 24
| Single-Family, Level Payments Pools, and Loan Packages
| Chapter 25
| Buydown Mortgage Pools
| Chapter 26
| Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Pools and Loan Packages
| Chapter 30
| Manufactured Home Loan Pools and Loan Packages
| Chapter 33
| Ginnie Mae Initiatives
|
MBS Guide Appendix | App. III-06
| Scheduled of Subscribers and Ginnie Mae Guaranty Agreement
| HUD-11705 | App. III-07
| Schedule of Pooled Mortgages
| HUD-11706 | App. III-13
| Ginnie Mae Electronic Data Interchange System Agreement
| App. IV-04
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae I MBS (Single-Family Mortgages)
| HUD-11717 | App. IV-07
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae I Mortgage-Backed Serial Notes (Single-Family Mortgages)
| HUD-1734 | App. IV-20
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II (Single-Family Mortgages)
| HUD-11717-II | App. IV-21
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II (Adjustable Rate Mortgages)
| HUD-11772-II | App. IV-24
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II (Manufactured Home Loans)
| HUD-11728-II | App. V-03, Ch. 3
| Document Custodian Manual Chapter 3: Single-Family Pools
| App. VI-19
| RFS Issuer Monthly Report of Pool and Loan Data
|
For questions and additional information regarding the transition to SFPDM, please contact askGinnieMae@hud.gov.
|
|
| 9/22/2023 - APM 23-11 | | Ginnie Mae’s current requirements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) limit securitization to one participation related to a particular HECM each month. Issuers utilize a combination of financing vehicles and working capital to finance HECM disbursements between the time that the HECM loans are originated or the HECM draws are funded and when the participations are securitized into HMBS. Depending on timing, Issuers may be required to wait until the following month to securitize these participations into Ginnie Mae HMBS. The potential delay in securitization can result in liquidity pressures to Issuers and counterparty risk to Ginnie Mae. Ginnie Mae is enhancing its HMBS requirements to allow securitization of multiple participations related to a particular HECM in any one issuance month.
These program enhancements are effective October 01, 2023.
Requirements When Pooling Multiple Participations Per Month
When pooling additional participations for a particular HECM in a particular month, those participations must meet the following additional requirements. - Participations must be sequential (e.g. 005, 006);
- Only one participation per HECM per HMBS is permitted:
- Any prior pools containing participations on a given HECM have been issued1 before additional participations can be submitted; and
- When the participation is the result of a HECM disbursement occurring on a day other than the first of the month, it must meet the requirements listed below.
Requirements for Participations Disbursed or Funded After the 1st of the Month
When HECM loans are originated, or borrowers request draws, interest accrues beginning the day after the disbursement through the end of that month. However, when securitized as an HMBS participation, a full month of interest is owed to security holders. A disbursement made after the 1st of the month and securitized in that same month results in a participation that is undercollateralized. To securitize such participations, Issuers must: - Reduce the original principal balance of the Participation at issuance by the amount of the interest due to security holders, but not owed by the borrower prior to pooling. The reduced amount is determined by dividing the actual HECM draw ending balance by the HECM draw ending balance with full interest and multiplying the result by the amount of the draw. For full details on the formula and calculation, see Chapter 35 part 5 section A(4) of the Ginnie Mae Mortgage Backed Securities Guide, HUD Handbook 5500.3, REV-1 (MBS Guide);
- Segregate the portion of the draw excluded from the original principal balance of the Participation in a balance that is held, controlled, and accounted for in a manner that ensures it is not and cannot be securitized in a different HMBS; and in accordance with Chapter 35 Part 12 Section E;
- Add the segregated balance to the accrued interest owed by the borrower and add the result, in accordance with Chapter 35, Part 11, Section G, to the ending principal balance of the Participation, as of the close of business on the last business day of the month in which securitization occurred; and
- Upon performing the step immediately above, reduce to zero the segregated balance associated with that particular Participation.
Chapter 35 parts 5, and 11 of the MBS Guide have been updated to reflect these changes.
If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact your Account Executive in the Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management.
________________________________________________ 1As used here, "issued" means that the HMBS has been written to the Central Registry as further described in Chapter 12 of the MBS Guide
|
|
| 9/14/2023 - APM 23-10 | | Ginnie Mae is announcing that it is revising its standard forms of prospectus for Single-Family Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), in order to detail attributes of Ginnie Mae MBS that Investors may use to determine if Ginnie Mae MBS meet their requirements to be deemed “Social Bonds”.
Single Family Ginnie Mae MBS are backed by residential mortgage loans that are insured or guaranteed by U.S. government programs offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Housing Service (RHS) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) . The insurance or guaranties extended under these programs reduce borrower credit risk, which promotes broader access to mortgage credit and/or less costly credit for borrowers, thereby expanding homeownership access and affordability among targeted populations (low-to-moderate income borrowers, veterans, senior citizens, rural communities, and/or tribal, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities). Ginnie Mae guarantees that security holders will receive all pass-through payments of principal and interest due to them. This guaranty furthers the purpose of promoting access to mortgage credit throughout the Nation (including central cities, rural areas, and underserved areas) by improving the distribution of investment capital available for residential mortgage financing. Additionally, Ginnie Mae provides monthly disclosure files that update the collateral characteristics for each MBS.
The Single-Family Forward MBS prospectuses affected by this announcement and their respective effective dates are listed below. The revised prospectuses that are effective October 1, 2023, are attached to this APM; those effective November 1, 2023 will be attached to a future APM. The prospectuses will be incorporated into the Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide, HUD Handbook 5500.3, REV-1 (MBS Guide) on their respective effective dates.
Effective for October 1, 2023 Issuances
Appendix
| Title
| Form
| IV-04
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae I MBS (Single-Family Mortgages)
| HUD-11717
| IV-20
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II MBS (Single-Family Mortgages)
| HUD-11717-II
| IV-21
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II MBS (Adjustable Rate Mortgages)
| HUD-11772-II
|
Effective for November 1, 2023 Issuances Appendix
| Title
| Form
| IV-05
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II MBS (Graduated Payment Mortgages)
| HUD-11747
| IV-06
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae I MBS (Growing Equity Mortgages)
| HUD-11712
| IV-07
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae I MBS (Serial Note Securities)
| HUD-1734
| IV-22
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II MBS (Graduated Payment Mortgages)
| HUD-11747-II
| IV-23
| Prospectus - Ginnie Mae II MBS (Growing Equity Mortgages)
| HUD-11717-II
|
Ginnie Mae is currently evaluating whether to add similar “Social Bond” content to its Home Equity Conversion, Manufactured Housing, and Multifamily MBS prospectuses. Any such designation would be announced in future APMs.
If you have any questions about the content of this Memorandum, please contact your Account Executive in the Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management directly.
|
|
| 6/14/2023 - APM 23-09 | | Ginnie Mae is pleased to extend the use of electronic signatures in conjunction with Remote Online Notarization (RON), as previously announced in APM 21-07, to include the ability for all Ginnie Mae Issuers to use RON in circumstances requiring a Power of Attorney (POA). In a continued effort to further modernize elements of the Mortgage-Backed Securities programs, effective immediately, and subject to the requirements referenced below, Ginnie Mae is permitting the use of electronic signatures used with RON to execute POA documents that are in some situations necessary to obtain Single-Family government insured or guaranteed loans on “paper” mortgages.
If using RON for POA, Issuers are subject to the electronic signature and notarization requirements outlined in Chapter 24, Part 3, § A (2) (b) of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide 5500.3, Rev-1 (“MBS Guide”). Issuers must continue to follow all insuring or guarantying agency guidance regarding POA eligibility and requirements, including the circumstances under which a borrower is permitted to use an attorney-in-fact to obtain Single-Family government insured or guaranteed loans. These circumstances can apply to borrowers who are unable to execute loan documents in-person, such as service members on overseas duty or on an unaccompanied tour. For more information on the specific requirements, eligible documents, and conditions in which a POA can be used, please refer to the applicable insuring or guarantying agency’s loan program guidelines.
Please note that the securitization of mortgages where the promissory note is an eNote is reserved for participants in the Digital Collateral Program only (who are approved specifically as eIssuers). This memorandum does not permit Issuers that have not been approved as eIssuers to securitize or deliver for securitization by Ginnie Mae any mortgage where the promissory note is signed electronically or an eNote. All other loan and pool certification requirements not expressly addressed by this memorandum remain unchanged.
Concurrently with this APM, Ginnie Mae is updating Appendix V-01, Chapter 3 of the MBS Guide to incorporate the electronic signature and notarization requirements for Loan Modifications from APM 21-07, which were inadvertently omitted with the publication of APM 22-01. The requirements announced in this APM have also been included in Appendix V-01, Chapter 3. All MBS Guide updates are effective immediately.
If you have any additional questions about the content of this Memorandum, please contact your Account Executive in the Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management directly.
|
|