Title 12

SECTION 1282.39

1282.39 Special requirements for loan purchases.

§ 1282.39 Special requirements for loan purchases.

(a) General. Subject to FHFA's determination of whether an activity or objective will receive duty to serve credit under a particular underserved market, the activities or objectives identified in this section will be treated as mortgage purchases as described and receive credit under the loan purchase evaluation area. An activity or objective that is covered by more than one paragraph below must satisfy the requirements of each such paragraph.

(b) Credit enhancements. - (1) Dwelling units financed under a credit enhancement entered into by an Enterprise will be treated as mortgage purchases only when:

(i) The Enterprise provides a specific contractual obligation to ensure timely payment of amounts due under a mortgage or mortgages financed by the issuance of housing bonds (such bonds may be issued by any entity, including a State or local housing finance agency); and

(ii) The Enterprise assumes a credit risk in the transaction substantially equivalent to the risk that would have been assumed by the Enterprise if it had securitized the mortgages financed by such bonds.

(2) When an Enterprise provides a specific contractual obligation to ensure timely payment of amounts due under any mortgage originally insured by a public purpose mortgage insurance entity or fund, the Enterprise may, on a case-by-case basis, seek approval from the Director for such transactions to receive credit under the loan purchase evaluation area for a particular underserved market.

(c) Risk-sharing. Mortgages purchased under risk-sharing arrangements between an Enterprise and any federal agency under which the Enterprise is responsible for a substantial amount of the risk will be treated as mortgage purchases.

(d) Participations. Participations purchased by an Enterprise will be treated as mortgage purchases only when the Enterprise's participation in the mortgage is 50 percent or more.

(e) Cooperative housing and condominiums. - (1) The purchase of a mortgage on a cooperative housing unit (“a share loan”) or a mortgage on a condominium unit will be treated as a mortgage purchase. Such a purchase will receive duty to serve credit in the same manner as a mortgage purchase of single-family owner-occupied units, i.e., affordability is based on the income of the mortgagor(s).

(2) The purchase of a blanket mortgage on a cooperative building or a mortgage on a condominium project will be treated as a mortgage purchase. The purchase of a blanket mortgage on a cooperative building will receive duty to serve credit in the same manner as a mortgage purchase of a multifamily rental property, except that affordability must be determined based solely on the comparable market rents used in underwriting the blanket loan. If the underwriting rents are not available, the loan will not be treated as a mortgage purchase. The purchase of a mortgage on a condominium project will receive duty to serve credit in the same manner as a mortgage purchase of a multifamily rental property.

(3) Where an Enterprise purchases both a blanket mortgage on a cooperative building and share loans for units in the same building, both the mortgage on the cooperative building and the share loans will be treated as mortgage purchases. Where an Enterprise purchases both a mortgage on a condominium project and mortgages on individual dwelling units in the same project, both the mortgage on the condominium project and the mortgages on individual dwelling units will be treated as mortgage purchases.

(f) Seasoned mortgages. An Enterprise's purchase of a seasoned mortgage will be treated as a mortgage purchase.

(g) Purchase of refinancing mortgages. The purchase of a refinancing mortgage by an Enterprise will be treated as a mortgage purchase only if the refinancing is an arms-length transaction that is borrower-driven.

(h) Mortgage revenue bonds. The purchase or guarantee by an Enterprise of a mortgage revenue bond issued by a state or local housing finance agency will be treated as a purchase of the underlying mortgages only to the extent the Enterprise has sufficient information to determine whether the underlying mortgages or mortgage-backed securities serve the income groups targeted by the duty to serve.

(i) Seller dissolution option. - (1) Mortgages acquired through transactions involving seller dissolution options will be treated as mortgage purchases only when:

(i) The terms of the transaction provide for a lockout period that prohibits the exercise of the dissolution option for at least one year from the date on which the transaction was entered into by the Enterprise and the seller of the mortgages; and

(ii) The transaction is not dissolved during the one-year minimum lockout period.

(2) FHFA may grant an exception to the one-year minimum lockout period described in paragraphs (i)(1)(i) and (i)(1)(ii) of this section, in response to a written request from an Enterprise, if FHFA determines that the transaction furthers the purposes of the Enterprise's Charter Act and the Safety and Soundness Act.

(3) For purposes of paragraph (i) of this section, “seller dissolution option” means an option for a seller of mortgages to the Enterprises to dissolve or otherwise cancel a mortgage purchase agreement or loan sale.