Copyright and Preface

(1) ©2024 Fannie Mae. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without Fannie Mae’s prior written permission, except as may be provided herein or unless otherwise permitted by law. Limited permission to reproduce this publication in print, in whole, or in part and to electronically distribute parts of this publication are granted to Fannie Mae-approved lenders, servicers, and other mortgage finance professionals, strictly for their own use in originating mortgages, selling mortgages to Fannie Mae, or servicing mortgages for Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae may revoke these limited permissions by written notice to any or all Fannie Mae-approved users.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

A full version of this publication is available on Fannie Mae's website. If there should ever be a difference between this publication as it appears on the AllRegs® website and the version published by Fannie Mae, the difference is an error. In such event, the Fannie Mae version of this publication shall be deemed the correct authoritative version. 

(2) Disclaimer: This publication is posted on the AllRegs website of ICE Mortgage Technology, Inc. (“ICE MT”) under license from and with the express permission of Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae makes no representation or warranty regarding any of the features, functionality, or other contents of the AllRegs website.

You acknowledge and agree (individually and on behalf of the entity for which you are accessing this publication, "You") that You may not make any claim against Fannie Mae or ICE MT for any errors, and: (i) neither Fannie Mae nor ICE MT shall be liable to You for any losses or damages whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from any errors, and (ii) ICE MT expressly disclaims any warranty as to the results to be obtained by You from use of the AllRegs website, and ICE MT shall not be liable to You for any damages arising directly or indirectly out of the use of the AllRegs website by You.

The Servicing Guide is organized into six parts. There are five parts (A-E), which are structured consistent with the mortgage loan life cycle and the servicers’ relationship with Fannie Mae. Part F, Servicing Guide Procedures, Exhibits and Quick Reference Materials, includes a variety of individual supporting materials, including a glossary of terms and a list of contacts. Parts may be structured by subpart, chapter, section, and topic; however, policies and requirements appear at the topic level only. The following table outlines a high-level overview of the Servicing Guide.

Use of the Numbering System

A numbering system is used in the Servicing Guide to identify the level of content as shown in the following table.

The example column shows how the numbering system can be used to map the location of specific content within the Servicing Guide to Part D, Subpart 2, Chapter 3, Section 1, Topic 01.

The part and subpart are combined as D2, the chapter and sections are combined as 3.1, and the topic is added as —01. Not all parts have subparts and not all chapters have sections. As topics are added, updated, and deleted with each publication of the Servicing Guide, the chapter, section and topic identifiers may change as necessary.

Trademark Acknowledgements

Fannie Mae's trademarks referenced in this Servicing Guide are detailed on our website and may be used without the corresponding symbol. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

Effective Dates for the Servicing Guide

Each topic within the Servicing Guide is followed by a date shown in parentheses. Beginning with the publication of the 2014 Servicing Guide, this date represents the date of the most recent Servicing Guide announcement that amended content within an individual topic. The servicer must refer to the individual Servicing announcement to determine the policy effective date. Links to announcements in the past five years that amended the policies in that topic can be found in the Recent Related Announcements table at the end of the topic, as applicable.

Topic updates with older related announcements can be found in prior PDF versions of the Servicing Guide in the Fannie Mae Selling and Servicing Policy Archives.

Amendments to the Servicing Guide

Fannie Mae may at any time alter or waive any of the requirements, impose other additional requirements, or rescind or amend any and all material set forth in the Servicing Guide. The servicer must make sure that its staff is thoroughly familiar with the content and requirements of the Servicing Guide as they now exist and as they may be changed from time to time.

Notification of Changes and Updates

Fannie Mae notifies servicers of changes and updates to servicing policies and procedures through Servicing Guide announcements, lender letters, and notices as described below:

• Servicing Guide announcements describe changes to policies and requirements within the Servicing Guide content. Servicing Guide announcements are numbered in chronological order as: SVC–202X–XX.

• Lender letters communicate 

  • -  new or modified policies and requirements that may be temporary in nature,

  • -  reminders of existing policies, and

  • -  advance notice of policy changes with future effective dates to be included in future Servicing Guide updates. Lender Letters are numbered in chronological order as: LL–202X–XX.

• Servicing Notices provide notification of information not impacting the Servicing Guide content, such as updates to an Exhibit on Fannie Mae’s website. Notices are identified by the date published (and are not numbered).

Fannie Mae does not mail printed copies of Guide updates, announcements, lender letters, or notices. Fannie Mae notifies servicers of changes and updates to its Servicing Guide policies and procedures in two ways:

• posting the documents on Fannie Mae’s website and the AllRegs® subscription website, and

• email notification to servicers that subscribe to Fannie Mae’s email subscription service and select the option “Servicing News.”

 For a list of Servicing Guide policy changes and updates, see In Case You Missed It.

• 2021 In Case You Missed It
• 2020 In Case You Missed It

Exhibits, Forms, and Content Incorporated by Reference

Information about specific forms the servicer must use to fulfill the policies and requirements contained in the Servicing Guide is provided within the Guide. Servicers can access the actual forms in two ways:

• on Fannie Mae’s website via the Guide Forms and Legal Documents pages, which provide a complete list of all forms and legal documents, or

• on the AllRegs subscription website for users with a full subscription to AllRegs.

Some exhibits that relate to Fannie Mae policies and requirements are only referenced in the Servicing Guide and are posted in their entirety on Fannie Mae’s website. All materials referenced by hyperlink, such as forms, exhibits and reference materials that are posted to Fannie Mae’s website are incorporated by reference into the Servicing Guide and are fully enforceable.

In addition, from time to time, Fannie Mae issues product-specific guides or directives, which are incorporated into the Servicing Guide by reference. All forms, exhibits, and product-specific information — whether it currently exists or is subsequently created — referenced in the Servicing Guide now or later are legally a part of the Servicing Guide and Fannie Mae’s contract with its servicers.

Guide Maintenance

Periodically non-policy related maintenance is needed to ensure the integrity of the Servicing Guide. Examples of maintenance include, updating or removing links to content that has been moved or deleted, modifying terminology to align with corporate branding, and incorporating new features to help improve the ease of navigating the Guide.

Technical Issues

In the event of technical difficulties or system failures with Fannie Mae’s website or with delivery of the “Selling +Servicing News” option of Fannie Mae’s email subscription service, users may use the “Contact Us” link of the website to ask a question or obtain more information.

When Questions Arise

The Servicing Guide explains how to become an approved Fannie Mae servicer and the policies and requirements required to perform normal and routine servicing matter. If a servicer feels that a situation is not covered by the Servicing Guide, or a procedure may not apply due to extenuating circumstances, the servicer’s principal contact should be its lead Fannie Mae Servicing Representative (see  F-4-02, List of ContactsF-4-02, List of Contacts) unless specifically instructed otherwise in the Servicing Guide.

For a list of other Fannie Mae contact information, refer to Quick Reference Materials in the Servicing Guide. Servicers can also visit Ask Poli® to get answers to servicing policy questions.