Ginnie Mae Issues Guidance for Disaster Pass-Through Assistance and Delinquency Ratio Exemptions for Qualifying Portfolios
WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Ginnie Mae issued an All Participants Memorandum (APM) – APM 17-04 to Single-Family Issuers providing updates and further guidance on the availability of optional, special assistance for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma or Maria including associated eligibility requirements and the application process.
Under revisions in Chapter 34-2 of the Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide, HUD Handbook 5500.3 Rev-1 (”MBS Guide”) Ginnie Mae will accept Issuer applications under its Delinquency and Default Ratio Exclusion Program 34-2-C and its Pass-Through Assistance Program 34-2-D. Instructions are provided regarding the process for requesting relief from delinquency and default ratios for those Issuers with portfolios that have been significantly impacted by Hurricanes’ Harvey, Irma and Maria.
The pass-through assistance has a “specific and limited purpose” and allows Issuers who, as a direct result of these recent disasters, face a temporary liquidity shortfall to receive the benefit of the Ginnie Mae guaranty. Assistance is not intended to provide long-term financing, or solutions to other solvency issues that an Issuer may face.
“This All Participants Memorandum is designed to clarify the terms for use of Ginnie Mae’s disaster assistance programs,” said Michael Bright, Ginnie Mae Acting President. “It makes an adjustment to our MBS guide’s long-standing requirement that 5% of an issuers’ book needs to be in a disaster affected area in order to qualify for short-term liquidity assistance from us. Today’s change allows issuers to meet this 5% requirement using their collective exposures to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. While we cannot alter the core, fundamental requirements for issuers in our program, these adjustments recognize that last month’s confluence of disasters requires some extraordinary measures.”
Issuers must request and obtain prior written approval from Ginnie Mae and are urged to contact their Ginnie Mae Account Executive with questions. Under the APM guidance, Ginnie Mae will use two major considerations when reviewing requests: whether the request constitutes a last resort and whether there are sufficient grounds to expect repayment within the 90 days allowed. The decision is at Ginnie Mae’s sole discretion. Issuers may aggregate eligible loans in all Hurricane disaster areas.
Ginnie Mae will accept applications under these two programs through October 2018 for the monthly reporting periods between September 2017 and September 2018. The complete All Participants Memorandum can be found here.
Information on designated disaster areas can be found from the Federal Emergency Management Agency at www.FEMA.gov/disasters.
About Ginnie Mae
Ginnie Mae is a wholly-owned government corporation that attracts global capital into the housing finance system to support homeownership for veterans and millions of homeowners throughout the country. Ginnie Mae mortgage backed securities MBS programs directly support housing finance programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the HUD Office of Public and Indian Housing, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service. Ginnie Mae is the only MBS to carry the explicit full faith and credit of the United States Government.
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Contact: Michael Huff
(202) 475-4933
