Fannie Hikes Workout Incentives

Effective immediately, Fannie Mae has increased the cash incentives it will pay servicers for successfully completing workouts, such as repayment plans and making "HomeSaver" advances to help delinquent borrowers catch up on their payments. Fannie has doubled the cash incentive for repayment plans to $400, provided that the mortgage is "brought current upon the successful completion of the repayment plan," the company's Aug. 11 servicing guide says. Fannie also raised the incentive fee for the new HomeSaver Advance from $600 to $700. However, the servicer will be paid in installments -- $200 for delivering the note on the unsecured advance to Fannie and the remaining $500 once the borrower makes three timely payments on the first mortgage. Servicers made 17,900 HomeSaver advances to delinquent borrowers in the second quarter, and the average size of the personal note was $7,100, according to the government-sponsored enterprise. Fannie Mae also started paying $700 for loan modifications on Aug. 11, and it instructed servicers to stop charging borrowers $500 for processing loan modifications. Incentive fees for short sales range from $1,000 to $1,500, depending on the loss severity to Fannie. The incentive paid for a deed-in-lieu transaction is $1,000. The GSE can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.