Fannie Mae says Ten Okay with Reserves

Starting on March 1, 2009, Fannie Mae will allow individual real estate investors once again to refinance up to ten (10) properties, relaxing the stranglehold limit of four that kicked in during the Summer of 2008.  According to the Announcement (09-02) issued February 6, 2009, the borrower will be subjected to some new requirements, including no history of bankruptcy or foreclosure within past seven years, no delinquencies on any mortgage loans in past 12 months; rental income must be fully documented; and borrowers must have six months reserves on the subject property and on each other financed second home or investment property.  In addition, the real estate investor or borrower must have a minimum credit score of 720, and the maximum LTV will be 70%.Fannie Mae is expanding the definition of “reserves” to include all components of the monthly housing expense (PITIA), including principal and interest, insurance premiums, property taxes, special assessments, association dues, and any monthly cooperative corporate fee.The Effective Date for multiple mortgages up to ten financed real estate properties will be March 1, 2009.  Fannie Mae has encouraged all lenders to implement the reserve requirements immediately and will apply them to all whole loans purchased by Fannie Mae on or after June 1, 2009.