On Thursday, new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset (ULDD) requirements go into effect, and the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association (MMBA) is wondering if lenders are ready.
Freddie Mac and the MMBA are holding a "Taking the Mystery out of ULDD and UCDP Requirements," conference Wednesday at the Bank of Canton. It’s been promoting the meeting with emails reading, "Are you ready???"
But the time is gone for mystery, Freddie Mac and local banking executives say.
By March 19, all Fannie and Freddie loans must meet ULDD requirements and be delivered in a specific new format, beginning with loan applications received Thursday, Dec. 1.
The changes are part of an updated Uniform Mortgage Data Program announced by Fannie and Freddie in 2010, and also include the new Uniform Appraisal Dataset and the Uniform Collateral Data Portal.
The ULDD sets uniform loan delivery data standards and defines the data Fannie and Freddie will require based on loan type, loan feature or other business requirements.
According to Freddie Mac, adopting the ULDD will help improve data accuracy, simplify the exchange of data, and increase confidence that loan data delivered to Freddie Mac is complete and accurate. The two institutions previously used proprietary software to process mortgage documents.
Michael Roy, vice president of compliance at Easthampton Savings Bank and co-chairman of the MMBA’s education committee, said by now, the new ULDD requirements shouldn’t be much of a problem for lenders.
"People have been getting used to the new forms and the new standards," Roy told Banker & Tradesman. "When technology changes, people do need time to adjust and it takes resources."
And lenders have had plenty of time to study and adjust, he added.
"People have a fair amount of time to plan. It’s been rolled out in stages," he said. "People have known it was coming for awhile."
Mike Dawson, vice president of customer and business services in Freddie Mac’s single-family sourcing and securitization division, also said lenders should be ready.
He said Freddie and Fannie have been "working jointly, working in lockstep," to not only implement the new uniform systems, but to get lenders ready for it.
"We’ve been doing that through training and websites and all the technical tools at our disposal," Dawson said. "It does take a fair amount of effort, but it’s going to help across the industry," which for the first time will have "a common platform and a common language, as it were" when dealing with Fannie and Freddie.
