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INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION
Journal
GINNIE MAE
EASES LOAN MOD
EFFICIENCY ON
PAPER MORTGAGES
Ginnie Mae has issued an All Participants
Memorandum (APM 21-07) that expands
the use of certain features found in its digital
collateral program to paper mortgages, a move
expected to make it more efficient for Issuers to
modify paper mortgages.
Due to the far-reaching impact of the
pandemic, certain features of Ginnie Mae's
Digital Collateral Program, namely the ability
to use electronic signatures and to adopt remote
online notarizations (RONs), were flexibilities
enacted to benefit all Issuers and borrowers in
the government-backed mortgage segment.
By issuing APM 21-07, Ginnie Mae will
permit the usage of electronic signatures and
RON for loan modification agreements on
"paper" mortgages. Ginnie Mae notes that
requirements for modifications of eMortgages
or eNotes will be addressed in a separate APM.
"Ginnie Mae is committed to providing
Issuers with the tools they need to make it
possible for qualified homeowners modifying
their mortgages to do so with as few obstacles
as possible," said Ginnie Mae Acting EVP
Michael Drayne. "Tens of thousands of
homeowners coming out of the forbearance
and other pandemic-related mortgage relief
programs may utilize mortgage modifications
to improve their financial situation, and we
believe this policy change will help make
the process proceed more smoothly for
homeowners and servicers."
Effective immediately, all approved Ginnie
Mae Issuers are permitted to use e-signatures
when executing loan mod agreements, provided
that:
» e promissory note is a paper promissory
note bearing a wet signature;
» e electronically signed loan mod
agreement complies with the recording
jurisdiction's recordation requirements; and
» e eClosing platform the Issuer uses to
obtain and maintain borrowers' electronic
signatures on the loan modification
agreement must support verification of the
borrower's identity, and identify the symbol
or process used as an electronic signature
by the borrower and the purpose of the
electronic signature.
