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10 The Exchange As Senior Vice President of Single-Family Portfolio Management at Freddie Mac, Kevin Palmer has broad responsibility for the Single- Family portfolio, including Freddie Mac's guarantee book of business, pricing and analytics, servicing, and REO. He also leads Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer (CRT), including Freddie Mac STACR® (Freddie Mac Structured Agency Credit Risk) securitizations, ACIS® (Agency Credit Insurance Structure) reinsurance, Freddie Mac Whole Loan Securities SM (WLSSM), and front-end risk transfer offerings. He holds an MBA in finance from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Weber State University. After previously speaking with us previously over the summer, Palmer recently reconnected with DS News to provide a few more insights into how Freddie Mac is working with Servicers to better assist struggling homeowners coming out of forbearance. [Editor's note: A version of this interview previously appeared in the September 20, 2021, edition of the DS5: Inside the Industry webcast.] We're seeing increasing numbers of homeowners exiting forbearance plans started during the pandemic. How should the industry prepare for an upcoming increase in delinquency volumes? What factors will be most critical as far as working to minimize credit losses? It's a great question. It's an important question, especially right now. Minimizing credit losses takes a great deal of collaboration between our servicers and the homeowners. It's important for to help by providing the resources and tools for Servicers to evaluate the various loss mitigation options in the most effective way. Last year, we started a campaign called #HelpStartsHere. is initiative was designed to provide resources to our clients to [help] assist homeowners through their COVID-19 hardships. ere are three things we look at for minimizing credit losses. e first is communication, [both] with the Servicer and the homeowner. It's important that communication happens early and often, so the homeowner has enough time to weigh the options that they might [have available] at the end of their forbearance period. e second is educating homeowners on mortgage relief options. ere are many options available to homeowners in forbearance who have been impacted by COVID-19. Understanding what those options are before the end of their forbearance period is critical. ese are options like a full reinstatement, which many homeowners have used, which is a one-time lump sum to be able to come back current on their mortgage. ere are also repayment plans, and there's something new that we rolled out during the pandemic that's called a payment deferral. A payment deferral allows the homeowner to resume making their normal monthly mortgage payment. Any of the payments that were missed during forbearance are added to the end of their mortgage, and no interest accrues on that. at amount is paid off when the loan is refinanced or the home is sold, or when the loan comes to the end of the mortgage term. We've seen the majority of borrowers use this option to be able to come current on their home when they've previously been on forbearance. Of course, there are some borrowers who have had a more permanent reduction of income. On a loan modification, the goal is a lower mortgage payment. To achieve a lower payment, there's a reduction of interest rate and/or an extension of the loan term. We also have other workout options Kevin Palmer SVP of Single-Family Portfolio Management, Freddie Mac Get to Know Industry Executives Beyond the Boardroom "There are many options available to homeowners in forbearance who have been impacted by COVID-19. Understanding what those options are before the end of their forbearance period is critical."

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