Mortgage firms that sell loans to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. have new procedures to follow as part of the company’s efforts to police and reduce mortgage fraud.
Fraud prevention, detection and reporting requirements are being enhanced at Freddie Mac.
Freddie, which said its fraud investigation unit has been combating mortgage fraud with the help of seller-servicers since 1989, outlined the changes in bulletin No. 2010-22.
“Strong fraud prevention and detection practices are an integral part of responsible lending standards that help to ensure the success of seller-servicers and borrowers throughout the entire life of a mortgage,” the bulletin stated. “Seller-servicers’ implementation of these practices is critical to ensuring the quality of mortgage origination and servicing processes and decisions.”
The secondary lender said many of its seller-servicers have already implemented best practices outlined in a publication from the fraud unit.
Details of the updates are in chapter seven of Freddie’s Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide. In addition, the McLean, Va.-based company is holding a Webinar on chapter 7 of the guide.
The changes are effective on Jan. 1, 2011.
A new section of the guide details requirements for the Freddie Mac Exclusionary List. Individuals on the list cannot be involved with the origination, sale or servicing of loans owned or guaranteed by the government-controlled enterprise.
