Lenders Can Test New Loan Data Deliveries Soon

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's three-year effort to develop standardized loan data reporting requirements for newly originated Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages will finally go live this month.

Starting April 23, lenders will able to submit the new Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset file to Fannie and Freddie, according to FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco.

He told a meeting of the Boston Security Analysts Society on Wednesday that submitting the loan-level data in the ULDD format will become mandatory in late July.

"We encourage all lenders to begin early transition to ULDD and take advantage of the opportunity to perfect their submissions prior to the July 23 mandatory date," DeMarco said.

In December, FHFA delayed implementation of the ULDD from March to July. The ULDD file is one of the initiatives in the Uniform Mortgage Data Program, an initiative to update and streamline the loan and appraisal data collected by the government-sponsored enterprises.

The ULDD file will contain upfront origination data only. It replaces the current proprietary 2,000-character flat files that Fannie and Freddie require from lenders. As NMN affiliate Mortgage Technology reported in its December issue loan origination system vendors have been working for more than a year developing new processes and functionality for lenders to meet the new requirement.

In March, another UMDP initiative called the Uniform Appraisal Dataset became mandatory. UAD is a new electronic file that the GSEs are using the collect full appraisal reports on all residential mortgage originations.

In the future, FHFA wants to see servicers update the loan-level data on a regular basis.

"The goal remains providing MBS investors with detailed, timely and reliable loan-level data at the time the mortgage-backed security is issued and throughout the life of the security," DeMarco said.