Fannie Mae: Who Owns Your Mortgage?

Many people wonder who owns their mortgage loan. It can be challenging to determine the owner, as the servicer you pay monthly may not be the loan owner. When a loan is transferred to a new owner, the borrower must receive a notice. If you are unsure who owns your loan, you can use online lookup tools, contact your loan servicer, or search the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) website. Fannie Mae, a common loan owner, provides a loan lookup tool on its website. This tool helps borrowers identify whether their loan is owned by Fannie Mae and determine their eligibility for appraisal flexibilities. Additionally, Fannie Mae offers resources for homeowners, including information on refinancing, renovation financing options, and mortgage terms.

Using the Fannie Mae Loan Lookup Tool

If you want to find out whether Fannie Mae owns your loan, you can use their online Loan Lookup Tool. This tool can help you find the perfect mortgage options that are tailored to your needs.

To use the tool, you must fill out a form with your first and last name, address, and the last four digits of your Social Security Number. The tool will then show whether your loan is a match with Fannie Mae. If it is not a match, you will see a "No Match" result, and you can try another search by entering the co-borrower's information if there is one. You can also try entering your unit number in the address field if you own a condo or townhome and are still getting a "No Match" result.

It is important to note that a "Match Found" result does not guarantee that you will qualify for Fannie Mae mortgage products. You should also be cautious of scammers targeting homeowners in crisis.

Through the Loan Lookup Tool, you can also learn about refinancing your mortgage and explore options to lower your monthly payments with better loan terms. You can learn about common loan types such as fixed-rate, adjustable-rate, FHA, USDA, and VA loans.

Understanding your loan purchase letter

If you have received a loan purchase letter from Fannie Mae, it means that the company has bought your loan from your lender. This letter is for informational purposes only and no action is required from you. Your loan terms and conditions, including your monthly payments, will remain the same.

Fannie Mae buys loans from lenders so that they can replenish their funds and provide new mortgages for other homebuyers. Your mortgage servicer—the company that you send your monthly payments to—remains the same. You should continue to send all mortgage payments to your servicer and not to Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae is not your servicer.

The loan purchase letter you received from Fannie Mae should also identify your mortgage servicer, which is the company that collects your monthly loan payments and provides customer service. If you have any questions about your mortgage loan, you should contact your servicer directly. You can find their contact details in the welcome packet they sent you or on the loan purchase letter.

If the servicer or contact details listed in the letter are incorrect, you should contact your mortgage servicer using the information in their welcome packet. Loan servicers may hire authorized sub-servicers, which perform the same function but may have a different name or phone number. You do not need to contact Fannie Mae about these changes as their system will update automatically.

Contacting your loan servicer

If you want to find out whether Fannie Mae owns your loan, you can use the Fannie Mae Loan Lookup Tool. This tool will determine in real-time whether your loan is owned by Fannie Mae. It is important to note that Fannie Mae is not a loan servicer and does not handle mortgage payments.

If you need to contact your loan servicer, there are several ways to do so. Firstly, you can refer to the welcome packet provided by your mortgage servicer, as they may use multiple phone numbers or hire authorized sub-servicers with different contact details. Secondly, you can find the contact information for your mortgage servicer on your monthly mortgage statement or coupon book. Additionally, you can use online tools such as the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) website to look up your mortgage servicer. Another option is to send a written request to your mortgage servicer. By law, your servicer is required to provide you with the name, address, and phone number of the owner of your loan. Remember that your loan servicer may not be the owner of your mortgage, as many mortgage loans are sold and transferred to new owners.

Refinancing options

If you are considering refinancing your mortgage, there are several options available through Fannie Mae. Refinancing can potentially lower your monthly payments by replacing your current mortgage with a new one that has more favourable loan terms.

Limited Cash-Out Refinance

A limited cash-out refinance replaces your existing mortgage with a new one that has better terms, such as lower interest rates. It allows you to take out up to $2,000 or 2% of the new mortgage loan balance, whichever is less. This can provide you with funds for home improvements.

HomeReady® Mortgage Refinance

HomeReady® offers a limited cash-out refinance option with flexible requirements to meet various financial needs. With this option, you can refinance with as little as 3% equity if you already have a Fannie Mae-owned loan, or 5% equity if you don't. It also allows for co-borrowers who don't reside at the property, such as parents helping their children qualify for a mortgage. Additionally, rental payments from sources like a basement apartment can be considered as an additional income source.

RefiNow™

RefiNow™ is an affordable refinancing option designed to help eligible homeowners reduce their monthly housing costs by taking advantage of historically low-interest rates. It provides a $500 LLPA credit to the lender, which must be passed on to the borrower. You can use the Fannie Mae website to look up income eligibility by area, property address, or Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code.

It is recommended that you consult with a mortgage lender to understand which refinancing option is best suited to your financial goals and situation.

The difference between Fannie Mae and your servicer

Fannie Mae is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that buys mortgages from lenders and either holds these mortgages in their portfolios or packages the loans into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that may be sold. They do not issue mortgages directly to consumers, but they do set the standards for the home loan products that lenders offer.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are large companies that guarantee most of the mortgages made in the U.S. Together, they help stabilize the mortgage markets and protect housing during extraordinary periods of financial turmoil. They were created by Congress to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to the mortgage market.

Your loan servicer, on the other hand, is the company that you pay your mortgage to each month. They are responsible for collecting your monthly payment and performing borrower-facing services. If you are seeking a mortgage loan modification, forbearance plan, or disaster relief, your loan servicer may work with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to assist you.

You can use the Fannie Mae Loan Lookup Tool to see if Fannie Mae owns your loan. If you are unable to find your loan, try re-entering your information or, if there is a co-borrower on the mortgage, try entering their information.

Frequently asked questions