Prior to approving a release of liability, the servicer must determine that the transferee's credit and financial capacity is acceptable as required in Chapter D1-4, Transfers of Ownership and D1-1-01, Evaluating a Request for the Release, or Partial Release, of Property Securing a Mortgage Loan.
The servicer must refer to the following Selling Guide topics to determine whether the transferee's credit and financial capacity is acceptable in accordance with Fannie Mae's underwriting guidelines:
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Selling Guide B1-1, Application Package Documentation;
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Selling Guide B2-2, Borrower Eligibility;
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Selling Guide B3-3, Income Assessment;
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Selling Guide B3-4, Asset Assessment;
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Selling Guide B3-5, Credit Assessment; and
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Selling Guide B3-6, Liability Assessment.
For a mortgage loan that has not been modified, the servicer is authorized to use Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter (DU) (see the Selling Guide B3-2, Desktop Underwriter (DU)) to determine the transferee's credit and financial capacity. If a servicer is not authorized to access DU, the servicer can obtain access by contacting Fannie Mae (see F-4-02, List of Contacts).
If utilizing DU, the servicer must
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submit the transaction as a limited cash-out refinance in DU, and
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use the original value of the property as defined in the Selling Guide.
The servicer must follow the procedures in Obtaining MI Approval for a Conventional Mortgage Loan in F-1-17, Processing a Transfer of Ownership for information on obtaining mortgage insurer approval, if applicable.
The following table provides the requirements for evaluating a request for a release of liability.
If the servicer has determined that the transferee... | Then the servicer... |
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is capable of assuming the mortgage loan obligation and the mortgage loan
|
is authorized to approve the release of liability. |
is capable of assuming the mortgage loan obligation but the mortgage loan has MI and the mortgage insurer does not agree to the release | must deny the request for the release of liability, although the transfer may still be processed without a release of liability. |
is not capable of assuming the mortgage loan obligation | must deny the request for release of liability, although the transfer may still be processed without a release of liability. |
Recent Related Announcements
The table below provides references to recently issued Announcements that are related to this topic.
Announcements | Issue Date |
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Announcement SVC-2019-04 | June 12, 2019 |