DS News

52 A GUIDING LIGHT NMSA sounded the clarion call, and Fannie Mae answered. Here, Fannie Mae's Jacob Williamson sums up the company's recent actions on the rampant problem of empty, unoccupied homes, including its revamped preservation publication. e National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA) recently released a proposal encouraging all federal agencies to work together in conjunction with the mortgage servicing community to institute policies that standardize the procedures, definitions, and best practices surrounding the treatment of deserted and dilapidated homes. Equally concerned, Fannie Mae promptly responded to NMSA's proposal, categorically agreeing that synergies can be gained by standardizing practices across the industry and providing clear and consistent guidelines. Not only does it support community stabilization and acting in a neighborly way, the GSE says, but it also strives to minimize property damage, liability, and code violations by providing guidance to its servicers designed to ensure that quality inspection and preservation services are provided on properties prior to foreclosure. Fannie Mae recently punched up its commitment to the fight against these issues by releasing the new Property Preservation Guide in July, which provides extensive and detailed guidance regarding securing and maintaining vacant and abandoned residences. So how exactly is Fannie working to address the concerns regarding these properties? e following Q& A— featuring Jacob Williamson, VP of Single- Family Distressed Assets at Fannie Mae— spells it out in black and white. Are vacant and abandoned homes a focal point for Fannie Mae? Yes. Fannie Mae is proactive in the fight against community blight and for neighborhood stabilization. We engage with leaders in the servicing and property preservation fields to better understand industry concerns and establish effective and scalable solutions. What's in the new guide and how will it help? is new guide is a robust 126-page document that includes helpful information for our servicers on how to conduct preservation activities and address issues. e new guide contains many new, as well as expanded allowables, what if scenarios, and example photos of completed work. Directions and expectations in the new guide will provide servicers clarity and the authority to address common preservation issues without the need to seek approval from Fannie Mae. Can you expand on the changes and how they'll help lessen community blight? ere are many changes in the new guide that aid the servicer's ability to maintain vacant and abandoned properties. Here are some of the highlights: » Enhanced clarity and allowable provisions for common repair items, including but not limited to roofs, plumbing, gutters, exterior doors, steps, handrails, and fences. » Enhanced clarity and allowable provisions for common maintenance items, including but not limited to exterior yard services; snow, debris, and graffiti removal; winterizations; and exterminations. » Eliminated seasonal service interruptions, allowing for year-round yard services, winterizations, and debris removal. » For services exceeding an allowable or where one is not established, a process has been provided allowing for the completion of work prior to submitting the required bids, thus allowing for more timely resolution of issues. NMSA's proposal references concerns and risks associated with hastily securing a property that may still be occupied. What is Fannie doing to address this? e new Fannie Mae Property Preservation Guide extends the timeline to secure a property and modifies the securing process to allow for the best practice of posting a vacant property notice. is posting alerts any potential occupant of an upcoming securing activity. e allowance for this practice adds another control to ensure properties are indeed vacant prior to securing activities. It also provides additional protection for our servicers and their vendors when they secure the property and begin performing preservation activities. How did Fannie Mae compile the information in the guide? e development of the Property Preservation Guide was a collaborative effort between Fannie Mae, our servicers, and their vendors. Fannie Mae engaged a roundtable of participants to ensure we captured and addressed as many of the industry concerns as possible. Additionally, Fannie Mae leveraged our best practices and maintenance guidance from REO as a foundational input into the guide for our servicers. is will continue to be an ongoing collaborative effort, and through our various servicer and vendor engagement activities and discussions with industry experts who also are focused on eliminating community blight, Fannie Mae will enhance and adjust its guide in order to address any new or growing issues or concerns. What is Fannie Mae doing to standardize inspection practices? Fannie Mae provided the industry with an updated Inspection Form 30 in 2015 to ensure servicers captured a multitude of data elements regarding the collateral and any potential occupancy. Fannie Mae has engaged WorldApp to provide a mobile platform to inspect our REO properties and collect similar consistent data points. We are currently working on a possible solution to offer this technology to our servicers to help with the inspection form standardization. JACOB WILLIAMSON VP OF SINGLE-FAMILY DISTRESSED ASSETS AT FANNIE MAE

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