September Compliance Recap: Document Changes to Veterans Affairs Forms and More

With the presidential election only a month away, Congress and the regulatory agencies have not made any major new rulings or proposed new rules. Still, there have been minor changes made by the Federal Agencies which required changes to documents - and some changes to improve our documents. These changes went into effect on September 25.

Follow our compliance blog to remain up to date on regulatory changes within the industry.

Document Updates

  • Redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application: Following testing done during the FNMA/FHLMC Limited Production Period; the following minor changes are being made to the redesigned FNMA Form 1003/FHLMC Form 65. These adjustments went into effect Sept. 25, 2020. Learn more.
        • Section 1a has a new field created to streamline the generation of the borrower name.
        • Section 2b has two new Other Asset Type choices to better support “Automobile” and “Net Worth of Business Owned” as other assets.
        • Sections 2c and 3a now have modified loop conditions to ensure all appropriate liabilities print in 2c and 3a.
        • Section 2d now has updated the loop logic for Other Liabilities and Expenses values rather than solely look at the Monthly Payment.
        • Section 3a now has modified the logic to print REO(s) for Borrower 2 if Borrower 1 does not have an REO but Borrower 2 does.
        • Section 4d has modified instructions based on guidance from GSEs that the “Deposited/Not Deposited” radio buttons should no longer be marked for Gifts of Equity.
        • Section L1 now has expanded logic for “Project Type” to make it more inclusive as a result of the possibility of having a mixture of options. This section also received added specific fields for Refinance Type and Refinance Program to ensure they are controlled independent of other sections/documents.
        • Section L2 now has updated logic to only print information for the “Title Currently Held” box if the loan is a refinance, per the “For Refinance” part of the box instructions.
  • Adjustments to Request for Certificate of Veteran Status and Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Statement: As part of First American Docutech’s monthly audit of Federal Agency forms, the mailing address for where to send the completed Request for Certificate of Veteran Status has been adjusted. The dates included on the Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Statement has also been changed to match the VA’s. This change went into effect Sept. 9, 2020. Learn more.
  • Textual Changes to USDA/RD Origination Stacking Order Checklist: There have been expansions and removals of text usually associated with the “Loan Origination Checklist” found in RD HB-1-3555, Attachment 15-A (our Cx19212) based on our monthly audit of Federal Agency forms. This change went into effect Sept. 9, 2020. Learn more.
  • Virginia’s Recordable Documents Receive Margin Change: At least one county requires a top margin of 1.25 inches on all recorded instruments. The previous margin was 1.2 inches and has been expanded to 1.5 to accommodate the requirements of all counties and minimize the margin of error. This change went into effect immediately. Learn more.
  • Placement of Attention Information on Recordable Documents: The placement of the attention line has been adjusted to be printed immediately below the company name field, as standardized by the U.S. Postal Service. This change went into effect Sept. 15, 2020. Learn more.
  • Modifications to the Inter Vivos Revocable Trust Rider: This has been modified to better reflect individual borrower signature lines printing on the security instrument and other rider security instruments. Learn more.

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