As the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will begin immediately providing greater liquidity to mortgage markets by temporarily purchasing loans from lenders where the borrower has requested forbearance or has been approved for forbearance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To address the risk of these temporary measures and to protect taxpayers, eligible loans delivered to Freddie Mac will be assessed an additional credit fee -- 5% for first-time homebuyers and 7% for non-first-time homebuyers.

Loan Eligibility Criteria

  • The mortgage must have closed on or after February 1, 2020 and on or before May 31, 2020.
  • The loan must be a purchase transaction or a no-cash-out refinance.
  • The loan cannot be more than 30-days delinquent.

“As always, our mission is our guiding principle as we continue to ensure the housing market remains open and functioning at this challenging time,” said Donna Corley, executive vice president and head of Freddie Mac’s Single-Family business.

We’re taking these important steps to support our clients as they do what they can to help borrowers during this difficult time. We will closely monitor and assess the loan characteristics of each mortgage delivered to Freddie Mac under this temporary measure to ensure they are of investment quality.

Freddie Mac is also reminding its clients to continue to maintain the high quality of the loans they deliver even as they take advantage of these temporary flexibilities. This includes reviewing diligently that the 3 C’s of the loan are solid: creditworthiness, capacity to repay and collateral.

Lenders can visit the Freddie Mac COVID-19 Resource page for valuable tools and information to help guide them in taking advantage of our temporary Selling and Servicing flexibilities and understanding updates the company is making to respond to emerging market developments.