As a reminder, Ginnie Mae seasoning requirements must be met on all government streamline or cash-out refinance transactions, including all VA refinances. Ginnie Mae seasoning requirements can be found on the various PennyMac Product Profiles.
Specific to VA refinances, IRRRL and full doc, the Note date of the (new) refinance loan must be on or after, the later of the date
- on which the borrower has made at least six full monthly payments on the loan being refinanced; and
- the date that is 210 days after the first monthly payment due date on the loan being refinanced.
Remember that on loans with modifications, the above seasoning requirements are applied to the dates after the modification has been completed (e.g. the date that is 210 days after the first modified monthly payment due date on the loan being refinanced).
Please refer to the specific government product profiles for complete details on when seasoning is required.
Best Practices
Many loan modifications are not reported. As a best practice, PennyMac encourages Correspondents to
- Ask all borrowers if any modification has been completed within the last 12 months.
- Request credit supplements for mortgages, specifically asking if the loan was subject to a modification.
- Review for red flags, including but not limited to:
- Mortgage tradeline reports as “Impacted by a Natural Disaster”
- Mortgage tradeline reports as “Impacted by COVID-19”
- Mortgage tradeline reports as “Deferred”
- Mortgage tradeline reports as “In Forbearance”
- Mortgage tradeline reports as “Partial Payments being Made”
- Mortgage tradeline trending report shows missed payments
- Mortgage tradeline trending report showed a change in monthly payments
- Mortgage tradeline shows current balance greater than original balance
- Mortgage Statement shows past due amounts owing
- Mortgage Statement references a note modification and/or adjustment of payments
- Borrower’s letter of explanation references the mortgage being deferred, in forbearance, etc.
- Preliminary title report shows a modification
Please contact your Sales Representative with any questions.