This Week's Highlights - Tuesday, July 28, 2020
  • Jumbo Program Guideline Updates
  • VA Clarification for Fee Recoupment Calculation for IRRRLs
  • COVID-19 Temporary Guidelines in KO
  • E-Close Availability 
  • Flood Certification Requirements
  • Drive-By Appraisal Transfers
  • Forbearance Mortgage Payment History Clarified
  • Agency LPMI Rate Card Pricing
  • Jumbo Program Released
  • Tax Day July 15th
  • Locking Error Alerts in DRIVER
 
Jumbo Program Guideline Updates
Effective immediately, the Jumbo Program guidelines have been revised as provided below:

1.00 Improvement Jumbo Price Reminder

  • For Jumbo loans that do not have borrowers using any self-employed income, a 1.00 price improvement applies.  Please email ratedesk@FairwayWholesaleLending.com with the loan details to request the adjustment.
  • The Jumbo lock window is open until 6PM for all states.  The complete Lock Policy can be viewed here.

Self-Employed Income

  • The S-Corporations, Corporations and Partnership guidelines have been updated to reflect that income must be reduced proportionately by the total obligations payable by the partnership/corporation in less than one year. 
  • Please refer to the Self-Employed Income topic in Knowledge Owl for full program guidelines. Note: As a reminder, you must be logged into KO to access guidelines.
VA Clarification for Fee Recoupment Calculation for IRRRLs
VA has provided the following clarification for the calculation of the fee recoupment for IRRRLs. This clarification is in addition to previous guidance and is effective for applications currently in process as of 07/24/2020.
  • Lender credits may be used to offset allowable fees and charges. (Note: This is no change from how Fairway calculates the fee recoupment.)
  • Additional updates to EEMs and ARMs were also made. However, please note, EEMs and ARMs are not eligible with Fairway Wholesale Lending.
  • Loans closed prior to 07/24/2020 using the guidance in Circular 26-19-22 Exhibit B are considered compliant.

Please refer to Circular 26-19-22 for more details.

COVID-19 Temporary Guidelines in KO
Fairway Wholesale Lending will be making changes to the COVID temporary guidelines in the upcoming days. The current and active guidelines will continue to remain on the COVID-19 Temporary page as well as be provided within the matrices and their individual guideline topics. 

This will hopefully begin to eliminate any confusion and should save time navigating through the guidelines going forward.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact Ask@fairwaymc.com.

 
E-Close Availability
Fairway Wholesale Lending currently offers hybrid eClose transactions for our broker channel.  Fairway also allows title companies to conduct audio/visual notary signing transactions at their discretion.

Q: Are we required to order a Flood Cert from FLS or do we have a few options?

A: Fairway requires a flood determination from FLS/CoreLogic for every loan originated within the Fairway system. Flood certs should not be requested from any other company outside of FLS and should not be placed directly with CoreLogic.
 
Q: If we have a borrower that wishes to transfer their appraisal to Fairway and it was prepared as a drive-by appraisal due to COVID-19, are we allowed to accept this appraisal? 

A: Because alternative appraisal types will not generate a score in Collateral Underwriter (CU), an exception would be required to see if the appraisal would be permitted to be transferred to Fairway. Note: These are not new COVID requirements as the exception has always been required on loans that will not score.

 
Forbearance Mortgage Payment History Clarified
As a reminder, the agency requirements regarding payment history required during CARES Act (COVID-19) forbearance have been clarified. Please refer to the COVID-19 Temporary Guidelines for full details.  Note: As a reminder, you must be logged into KO to access guidelines.

Agency LPMI Rate Card Pricing
FWL has implemented NEW rate card pricing effective with all locks on or after 7/20/20. For locked Agency LPMI loans, this change will not affect loans in the pipeline, however we do ask that you close your loans as soon as possible.

Jumbo Program Released
Fairway Wholesale Lending released a new Jumbo Product effective on 07/15/2020. Key highlights are:

  • Purchase & Rate/Term Refinance Options
  • Primary Residences & Second Homes
  • $1,500,000 Max Loan Amount
  • Up to 80% LTV
  • Min 720 FICO
Program guidelines are available in each applicable topic located under the Conventional Guidelines in KO. Also available is the Jumbo-Non-Conforming Matrix. Note: As a reminder, you must be logged into KO to access guidelines.

Tax Day July 15th
As you are aware, tax day was on 7/15. Underwriting will require either an extension or the 2019 taxes for all loans in process.  Additionally, the IRS IVES service is operational again and is working through a significant backlog.  Be advised that as we are able to obtain transcripts, the standard policy for tax transcripts is now effective (including the exception process as needed).  Please order your transcripts as early as possible to avoid delays. 

Please refer to the Tax Obligation Job Aid to determine when taxes are considered delinquent and documentation requirements for taxes owed.
 
Locking Error Alerts in DRIVER
Reports indicate numerous inquiries from the Help Desk in response to lock error alerts while in DRIVER. As a reminder, this alert notification is received by the user when attempting to price/lock a loan outside of the required locking hours.
 
If you receive the error below, please wait until the next day's pricing becomes available to lock your loan.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk.

Steve Jacobson, CEO - "All that is needed is to merely do the very best we can one day at a time. Not tomorrow - but today."