The Federal Housing Agency (“FHA”) issued Mortgagee Letter 2023-13 to announce that Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 1103, Supplemental Consumer Information Form (“SCIF”) will be required for all FHA Title II forward mortgage loans with an application date of August 28, 2023 or later.
The policy change will be included in an expected update to the HUD Handbook 4000.1, Origination/Processing Section II.A.1. Mortgagees are required to obtain a completed Uniform Residential Loan Application (“URLA”) from borrowers to begin the origination process. The revised policy states that “URLA also includes the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Form 1103, Supplemental Consumer Information Form (SCIF), for sections II.A.1.a, II.A.7.d.ii., and II.A.8.d.vi(C)(5) only.”
The SCIF, which has been required in connection with loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since March 1, 2023, allows borrowers to voluntarily identify their language preference and information on housing counseling and homeownership education they may have received. Borrower may choose to provide all, some, or none of the information requested by the form. Any information a borrower provides on the SCIF must be transmitted to FHA as part of the required loan application data submission. In an FHA press release, Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon stated that “using the SCIF will enable a better aggregate view of language preferences for borrowers it serves, which in turn will influence future actions to continue breaking down language and other barriers to homeownership.”
DocMagic currently makes the SCIF available for use upon request for all loans, includes it by default for all conventional loans, and will automatically include the SCIF along with the URLA for all FHA loans beginning on August 10, 2023.
