NRC Unveils AU for NeighborWorks

The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. has developed an automated underwriting system so that community-based NeighborWorks organizations can originate first and second mortgages and sell them to Fannie Mae.Most NeighborWorks loans are seconds that cover downpayment and closing costs for low-income homebuyers who are getting a first mortgage from a private lender. The NeighborWorks revolving loan fund financed $61.4 million in seconds over the past two years, with an average loan size of $14,550. Starting May 15, NeighborWorks organizations will have the Web-based underwriting system to originate these loans, which Fannie agreed to purchase on a flow basis. "If this gets perfected, it will be open to a broader circle of providers" that offer similar programs to facilitate the home purchase process, NRC chief executive Kenneth Wade said. NRC, working with its secondary market arm, Neighborhood Housing Services of America, developed the AU system. NHSA will service the loans as an approved Fannie seller/servicer.