To provide HMBS Issuers with additional
guidance relating to monthly and annual reporting obligations, Ginnie Mae is hereby
announcing the publication of its HMBS Investor Reporting Manual. Ginnie Mae is
also revising Chapter 35 of the MBS Guide to provide expanded guidance in
accordance with the content of the newly published manual. The MBS Guide changes addressed below will
become effective on April 1, 2020 and will be reflected in an updated version
of Chapter 35 published at that time.
Chapter
35 MBS Guide Updates
Ginnie Mae is modifying Chapter 35, Part
1 to remind issuers that FHA requirements, not the MBS Guide provisions, dictate
whether Participations are permitted for any HECM Loan pooled into an HMBS.
Further, Ginnie Mae is revising Chapter
35, Part 5, Section A to establish the first (1st) day of the month
that is subsequent to the loan closing date as the earliest date a
Participation can be pooled for securitization. Please note that, HMBS Issuers
may select, at their discretion, the timing and frequency of pooling
Participations to be later than that date, so long as all other pooling
requirements are met.
Chapter 35, Part 5, Section B has been
revised to limit the overall number of Participations that can be associated
with any single HECM loan to nine-hundred and ninety-nine (999).
Previously, the language in the MBS
Guide allowed the Issuer to determine whether to establish an escrow
account. Under changes made to Chapter
35, Part 7, Section G, Ginnie Mae will require Issuers to establish an escrow
account in order to participate in the HMBS program and to execute Master
Agreement (Appendix III-3), form HUD11720 for such account(s).
Under revisions to Chapter 35, Part 12,
Section F, Ginnie Mae will require any HMBS Issuer approved on or after January
1, 2020, to select the last business day of the month as the monthly reporting
cut-off date to ensure consistency across all HMBS program participants and
with the provisions of the newly published HMBS Investor Reporting Manual.
HMBS Investor Reporting Manual
The HMBS Investor Reporting Manual
referenced in this memorandum is effective immediately and may be accessed via
the link below.
https://www.ginniemae.gov/issuers/program_guidelines/Pages/investor_reporting_manual.aspx
Please contact your Ginnie Mae Account
Executive in the Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management directly or at (202)
708-1535 with any questions you may have.