The last few years of this country’s economic situation has led to high unemployment. That in turn has led to the highest foreclosure rate ever. Florida is ranked as having one of highest foreclosure rates since the housing crisis began. As such, a new servicing guide has been issued by Fannie Mae in an attempt to lessen the load in the courts that handle foreclosure cases. It is hoped that this program will open up communication between lenders and distressed borrowers prior to foreclosure proceedings.

In this new guide, mortgages that are held by Fannie Mae’s portfolio or that are part of any shared market where Fannie Mae may acquire a property, the mortgage will be covered by these new policies. So that any servicer of a mortgage in the state of Florida must provide Fannie Mae and all law firms that have been retained, with contact information for a primary liaison/team. This must include the contact that all inquiries and documents are directed to for mediation process no later than Wednesday, September 15.

This order passed down by the Florida Supreme Court will now require servicers to offer mediation to all residential borrowers that have a foreclosure filed against them. However, going an extra step further, Fannie Mae is implementing a pre-file mediation program across the state for its servicers too. January 1, 2011 is the deadline for these new guidelines to be implemented. Any new referred mortgage loans on or after September 15, 2010 to the Retained Attorney Network who starts the foreclosure proceedings, the mortgage loan must be screened by an attorney to determine if it is eligible for a pre-file mediation and then proceed accordingly.

It is hoped that this new policy will improve the possibilities of moving delinquent borrowers into a performing status with an offer to mediate and possible workout options in the early stages of delinquency. It is though that this will facilitate a shorter timeline to a foreclosure sale when mediation is not accepted by the borrower or an agreement is not worked out between the borrower and the servicer.

While Florida may be the first state that has Fannie Mae put such a policy in place, we may soon see other states taking this move as well. With this new policy being put in place, it is possible to see the clogged foreclosure courts get some relief and the number of foreclosure drop to a lower number, even before this current economic crisis.

The last few years of this country’s economic situation has led to high unemployment. That in turn has led to the highest foreclosure rate ever. Florida is ranked as having one of highest foreclosure rates since the housing crisis began. As such, a new servicing guide has been issued by Fannie Mae in an attempt to lessen the load in the courts that handle foreclosure cases. It is hoped that this program will open up communication between lenders and distressed borrowers prior to foreclosure proceedings.

In this new guide, mortgages that are held by Fannie Mae’s portfolio or that are part of any shared market where Fannie Mae may acquire a property, the mortgage will be covered by these new policies. So that any servicer of a mortgage in the state of Florida must provide Fannie Mae and all law firms that have been retained, with contact information for a primary liaison/team. This must include the contact that all inquiries and documents are directed to for mediation process no later than Wednesday, September 15.

This order passed down by the Florida Supreme Court will now require servicers to offer mediation to all residential borrowers that have a foreclosure filed against them. However, going an extra step further, Fannie Mae is implementing a pre-file mediation program across the state for its servicers too. January 1, 2011 is the deadline for these new guidelines to be implemented. Any new referred mortgage loans on or after September 15, 2010 to the Retained Attorney Network who starts the foreclosure proceedings, the mortgage loan must be screened by an attorney to determine if it is eligible for a pre-file mediation and then proceed accordingly.

It is hoped that this new policy will improve the possibilities of moving delinquent borrowers into a performing status with an offer to mediate and possible workout options in the early stages of delinquency. It is though that this will facilitate a shorter timeline to a foreclosure sale when mediation is not accepted by the borrower or an agreement is not worked out between the borrower and the servicer.

While Florida may be the first state that has Fannie Mae put such a policy in place, we may soon see other states taking this move as well. With this new policy being put in place, it is possible to see the clogged foreclosure courts get some relief and the number of foreclosure drop to a lower number, even before this current economic crisis.