Ginnie Mae trainers outline RFS reporting deadlines, new UPB check and custodial-account rules
Loading...
Summary
Ginnie Mae presenters reviewed recent RFS features and reporting deadlines for issuers, including a new loan-UPB validation that warns if a prepayment penalty exceeds 10% of loan UPB, monthly certification name-matching requirements, loan-matching schedules, CAVSS timing, and bank-reconciliation best practices.
Ginnie Mae presenters on the webinar reviewed technical reporting requirements and system changes issuers must follow when submitting multifamily pool and loan data via the RFS portal.
In the hourlong training, Steve Audi, a Ginnie Mae presenter, highlighted new validation logic added to the prepayment-penalty entry screen that populates loan unpaid principal balance (UPB) from loan field 23 and warns issuers if a reported prepayment penalty exceeds 10% of that UPB. "We actually had an issuer enter the loan UPB amount as their prepayment penalty amount," Audi said, explaining the enhancement is intended to catch that kind of error before the reporting deadline.
The session laid out firm submission timelines. Audi said prepayment penalties must be reported by 7 p.m. Eastern on the fourth business day of the month, and the monthly reporting certification opens on the tenth business day and closes at 7 p.m. Eastern on the fourteenth business day. He advised issuers to maintain multiple authorized signers and backups with RSA soft tokens after relating an example in which a missed certification deadline stemmed from the sole authorized user being unexpectedly on medical leave.
Debbie Bowles reviewed custodial-account verification (CAVSS) and tax-related reporting. She walked participants through the Pool Accounting (multifamily) screens used to submit CAVSS (due quarterly in March, June, September and December under the MBS Guide) and explained the filing cadence for widely held fixed investment trust (W‑HFIT) IRS reporting, noting issuers have a five-day correction window and Ginnie Mae will publish the data on its tax-and-factoring site. Bowles emphasized that issuers must continue to report these items through RFS and that a separate CAVSS certification is required for each HUD 11709 P&I account and each HUD 11720 escrow account.
Christy Christiansen and Melanie Burton covered cash and reconciliations, including PNI/TNI custodial-account requirements and recon timelines. Key reminders: PNI bank recons must be completed within 30 days of the issuer's monthly cutoff; TNI funds must be deposited to Ginnie Mae escrow accounts within two business days of pool settlement; and HUD forms (for example, HUD 11709 for PNI accounts) must be on file for each custodial account. Melanie demonstrated the "test of expected PNI" and the pull-to-security reconciliation (mortgage collateral to securities outstanding), explaining tolerances (for example, up to $100 per pool when there are no unscheduled recoveries and a $1-per-loan tolerance capped at $50 per pool for certain differences) and when issuers should consider corporate advances to cover shortages.
The presenters walked through the RFS screens for entering amounts, downloading reconciliation and matching reports, and using the "save and summarize pull" button to ensure loan-level updates flow to the pool activity screen. They reiterated operational best practices: report 100% of pool and loan data by the close of business on the second business day, clear e‑notification exceptions by 7 p.m. Eastern on the fourth business day, ensure agency case numbers match origination records, review e‑notifications daily, and maintain multiple staff with RSA tokens for monthly certification.
The webinar closed with live polling and a brief Q&A. Presenters directed issuers with specific pool-level issues to contact their Ginnie Mae multifamily account executive for guidance. No policy changes were announced; the session focused on reminding issuers of existing MBS Guide requirements, demonstrating RFS screens, and explaining a recent UI validation intended to reduce data-entry errors.
