Announcement 20-0015: Verbal Verification of Employment Requirements

Overview

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC (CMS) is actively monitoring the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) throughout the United States and we understand there may be concerns about its potential impact to our borrowers and loan originations. Our ability to continue to serve our customers is a top priority. As the Agencies provide additional guidance, this bulletin will be updated and republished.

Effective: These temporary employment and income verification flexibilities are effective immediately for all Conventional product only loans in process and remain in place for loans with application dates on or before May 17, 2020. Please note that the Guidelines/ Matrices and AUS messages will not be updated to reflect these temporary policies.

Verbal Verification of Employment

In cases where there is difficulty in obtaining the verbal verification of employment (VVOE) due to disruption to operations of the borrower’s employer, the following temporary process applies:

• Written VOE: Obtain an email directly from the employer’s work email address that identifies the name and title of the verifier and the borrower’s name and current employment date within 10 calendar days of the note date.
• The Work Number: We will continue to accept automated verifications such as those from The Work Number, although the last date of employment verified must be within 10 calendar days of the note date. In situations where the automatic database upload has not been refreshed within the last 10 calendar days, we will have to wait for the next refresh period.
• Paystub: Provide a year-to-date paystub dated within 10 calendar days of the note date.
• Bank statements: Provide a bank statement evidencing the automatic payroll deposit reflecting the employer’s name within 10 calendar days of the note date. (The 10 calendar days is calculated from the date of the payroll deposit, not the bank statement date.)
• Self-Employment: Verification of self-employment will follow existing guidance, but must be dated within 10 calendar days of the note date.

Continuity of Income:

It is important to remind our Associates of ensuring sustainable homeownership for our borrowers in light of recent events.

Given the current economic climate associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on employment and income, our Underwriting team will practice additional due diligence to verify the most recent information is obtained. This will ensure any disruption to borrowers’ employment (or self-employment) and/or income due to the COVID-19 pandemic is not expected to negatively impact their ability to repay the loan.

Contacts

Please contact CorrespondentRM@carringtonms.com with any questions.

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