Fannie Mae’s decision to allow homeownership education provided by third parties will ease the process of obtaining affordable mortgages.

Fannie Mae announced that, starting in 2022, it will allow third-parties to fulfill the homeownership education requirement on some affordable mortgages. Third-party homeownership education providers will still have to be aligned with the National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling or with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Housing Counseling Program, if it is not a HUD-approved counseling agency. Since 2015, Fannie Mae has required borrowers to complete the course through Framework Homeownership, which started in 2012 as a partnership between Housing Partnership Network and Minnesota Homeownership Center. In 2019, Fannie Mae began waiving the $75 fee for Framework’s course. A Framework spokesperson said more than 1.2 million homebuyers have used its educational program. “We are happy that Fannie Mae has used Framework to prove the efficacy of homebuyer education and as a social enterprise we applaud all efforts to get homebuyer education into more people’s hands,” a Framework spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that getting a Framework certificate “saves lenders time and hassle at the last minute before closing because it’s more flexible and widely accepted.” Fannie Mae currently requires first-time homebuyers purchasing a home with more than 95% financing to complete a homeownership education course. It’s also a must for first-time homebuyers using Fannie Mae’s flagship affordable finance program, HomeReady, which allows ultra-low down payments. The same goes for first-time homebuyers who use Fannie Mae’s HFA Preferred program, which is administered by housing finance agencies for low to moderate-income borrowers.

Source: HousingWire