lender integration guide getting started with b2b

Lender Integration Guide

Business to Business

File Transfer Solution

Getting Started with B2B

LQC Business Systems Technical Publications

Version 3.3 – April 22, 2015

Copyright © 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 Fannie Mae – Proprietary Notice The information contained in this document is the proprietary property of Fannie Mae’s Loan Quality Center. Neither this document nor the information disclosed herein shall be reproduced or transferred to other documents. Nor shall the information be used or disclosed to others for research or any other purposes except as specifically authorized in writing by Fannie Mae counsel.

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Overview of B2B ......................................................................................... 1

What is B2B?............................................................................................................. 2

Benefits of B2B File Transfer ..................................................................................... 2

Requirements for B2B Integration .............................................................................. 3

Eligibility .................................................................................................................... 3

Chapter 2: B2B Integration Roadmap .......................................................................... 4

Step 1: Select Your File Transfer Solution ................................................................. 4

Step 2: Set Up Communication.................................................................................. 6

Step 3: Test File Delivery........................................................................................... 7

Step 4: Ramp Up to Full Production .......................................................................... 7

Chapter 3: File Packaging and Submission ................................................................ 8

File Packaging Requirements .................................................................................... 8

File Submission Requirements .................................................................................. 9

Chapter 4: Manifest Files ............................................................................................ 10

Manifest File Transmission ...................................................................................... 10

Manifest File Names ................................................................................................ 10

Manifest File Content ............................................................................................... 11

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting ....................................................................................... 12

File Packaging Errors .............................................................................................. 13

Transmission/Receipt Errors ................................................................................... 16

B2B Lender Integration Guide Page 1

Chapter 1: Overview of B2B Fannie Mae’s Loan Quality Center (LQC) reviews the loans delivered to Fannie Mae to ensure their quality. Because the majority of our customers image their loan file documents and submission of paper copies can increase the risk of exposing non-public personal information (NPI), Fannie Mae is phasing out acceptance of file on Paper or CD/DVD. Files may be submitted electronically via the business to business (B2B) file transfer solution (the subject of this integration guide), or via the LQC FT Portal (for more information on this web based solution, please email [email protected]). These electronic solutions are intended for full loan file submission only.

This chapter provides an overview of the B2B solution. Topics are:

• What is B2B? – page 2

• Benefits of B2B File Transfer – page 2

• Requirements for B2B Integration – page 3

• Eligibility – page 3

Chapter 1: Overview of B2B


What is B2B? B2B is Fannie Mae’s solution for the electronic transfer of medium to high volume loan file submissions from lenders to Fannie Mae. The B2B file transfer solution:

• Ensures secure file transmission and delivery

• Enables bulk transfers

• Provides a scalable and dependable method for electronic file transfers

Benefits of B2B File Transfer Fannie Mae encourages lenders with medium to high volume loan file submissions to use B2B file transfer. The following are some of the key benefits of the integrated B2B solution:

• Shortens the response time for loan file request fulfillment

• Increases throughput and reliability of the transfer process

• Enables a standardized approach to fulfilling loan file requests, which reduces duplication or omission of critical documents

Note: B2B file transfers are only for fulfillment of initial loan file requests. Requests for missing and trailing documents are fulfilled by either:

• Document upload through Fannie Mae’s Quality Assurance System (QAS - Lender Web)

• E-mail to [email protected]

• Fax to 240-699-6895

Submitting missing and trailing documents using B2B file transfer will prevent lenders from “receiving credit” for the document(s) and is strictly prohibited.

Note: Fannie Mae only offers two delivery options for the submission of origination loan files, B2B and the LQC FT Portal.

mailto:[email protected]

Chapter 1: Overview of B2B


Requirements for B2B Integration The following checklist describes, at a high level, the lender requirements and expected commitments that are associated with implementing Fannie Mae’s B2B file transfer solution. Detailed explanations are provided in the remainder of this guide.

Commitment: Agree to comply with all Fannie Mae B2B standards.

Resources: Provide dedicated resources who understand the guidelines and required processes for B2B implementation.

System: Decide on the file transfer solution and invest, as needed, in the required third-party software.

Integration: Configure electronic communication with Fannie Mae, and test connectivity and file transfer.

Operations: Provide consistent and ongoing delivery of loan files that adheres to Fannie Mae’s submission guidelines which include established threshold limits for file transfers.

Remediation: Resolve all errors, during both operational testing and production, in a timely manner. See “Chapter 5: Troubleshooting” on page 12.

Eligibility Eligibility for the B2B program is based on your monthly number of loan file submissions. Currently, a minimum of 50 submissions per month is required. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact the Manager of File Receipt and Assignment at [email protected]. If you are eligible for the B2B program, you can review the requirements and B2B integration process described in this guide, and assess readiness.

Important: The timeframe for end-to-end implementation is approximately three months.

Please note that the B2B integration process may be put on hold at any time throughout the process if a lender fails to meet the timeline expectations. This may put a lender outside of the three-month timeframe.


Chapter 2: B2B Integration Roadmap Implementation of Fannie Mae’s B2B solution requires the completion of four primary steps. Information in this chapter describes each step in detail. Topics are:

• Step 1: Select Your File Transfer Solution – page 4-5

• Step 2: Set Up Communication – page 6

• Step 3: Test File Delivery – page 7

• Step 4: Ramp Up to Full Production – page 7

Step 1: Select Your File Transfer Solution Fannie Mae supports two solutions for secure file transfers. The following are short descriptions of each. Your IT department can assist in determining the best solution for your company.

1. Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) is a specification for secure and reliable file transfers over the Internet. Features include data encryption and signing, transmission using the hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS), and message disposition notification (MDN).

Advantages:

- Easily configurable, end-to-end solution available from a number of software vendors

- Provides seamless connectivity and dynamic, scalable, and secure connections

- Provides confirmation that the data/transaction was received via MDN

- Handles restarts after interruptions

Disadvantages: There is no major disadvantage for AS2, however:

- Customers need to purchase AS2 compliant software

- Customers need to buy a CA signed certificate

Note: AS2 is the preferred method of connectivity with Fannie Mae.

Chapter 2: B2B Integration Roadmap


Refer to the following illustration of file transfer using the AS2 specification and HTTPS protocol.

Figure 1: File Transfer Using AS2

2. IBM® Sterling Connect:Direct® is a software solution that uses a proprietary

protocol for point-to-point file transfers. It can support mainframe along with other operating systems (Windows, UNIX flavors)

Advantages:

- Delivery via automated scheduling, checkpoint restart, and automatic recovery/retry

- Handles demanding loads—from high volumes of small files to multi-gigabyte files

- Supports file transfer between various platforms

Disadvantages:

- Only IBM/Sterling can provide software and support - Requires network changes, thus will increase setup time



Refer to the following illustration of file transfer using Connect:Direct.

Figure 2: File Transfer Using Connect:Direct

Step 2: Set Up Communication The process of setting up communication with Fannie Mae involves:

• Purchasing and installing the selected software

You will work with the vendor to purchase and install the required third-party software, as well as setting up and implementing the associated monitoring and reporting functionality.

• Setting up the communication parameters

Fannie Mae works with a designated technical contact in your company to configure the communication parameters for delivering loan files to Fannie Mae.



Step 3: Test File Delivery After you have successfully established communication, the next step is to work with Fannie Mae to test file delivery. Fannie Mae staff sets up a phased, gradual transfer schedule with you and provides feedback on your progress. The process of testing file delivery consists of the following:

1. You send (with step-by-step instructions provided by Fannie Mae) a pre-defined number of sample files to Fannie Mae along with a manifest file.

2. Fannie Mae monitors the transfer process and provides feedback. Error resolution is mutually discussed.

3. Steps 1 and 2 are repeated as needed. Fannie Mae maintains testing support until test file delivery is successful.

Step 4: Ramp Up to Full Production After successfully completing test file delivery, the last step is to work with Fannie Mae to ramp up to full production. Fannie Mae staff sets up a phased, gradual transfer schedule with you and provides feedback on your progress. The process of ramping up to full production consists of the following:

1. You send (with step-by-step instructions provided by Fannie Mae) a pre-defined number of files to Fannie Mae along with a manifest file.

2. Fannie Mae provides feedback on any failures and error resolution is mutually discussed.

3. Steps 1 and 2 are repeated as needed. Fannie Mae maintains support until file delivery is successful.

4. Fannie Mae approves you for full production and sets a threshold limit for file transfers. Fannie Mae will perform ongoing production monitoring and provide feedback as needed.

Caution: For this and the next step, it is important that you follow Fannie Mae’s file packaging and submission requirements. See “Chapter 3: File Packaging and Submission” on page 8.


Chapter 3: File Packaging and Submission To successfully complete steps 3 and 4 described in “Chapter 2: B2B Integration Roadmap”, you must meet Fannie Mae’s requirements for file packaging and file submission. Information in this chapter describes these requirements. Topics are:

• File Packaging Requirements – page 8-9

• File Submission Requirements – page 9

File Packaging Requirements All requested documents for a loan must be transmitted in a single PDF file (a consolidated file). Refer to the following figure for an illustrated example.

Figure 3: Consolidated File

The individual file name for consolidated files must contain:

1. The 10-digit Fannie Mae loan number

2. A PDF file extension

Optionally, the file name can contain the Fannie Mae loan number as the first segment followed by an underscore and a unique identifier, such as the lender loan number.

Formats and examples for file names:

Format: <Fannie Mae Loan Num>.<extension>

Example: 1234567890.pdf

Or

Format: <Fannie Mae Loan Num>_UniqueIdentifier.<extension>

Example: 1234567890_111111.pdf

Chapter 3: File Packaging and Submission


File names can contain characters A-Z, numbers 0-9, and an underscore; however, they cannot contain special characters such as -, (), [], {}, #, @, or a space.

The total length of the file name cannot exceed 65 characters, which allows for the 10-digit Fannie Mae loan number, an underscore separator, and a 50-character unique identifier.

File Submission Requirements The following are Fannie Mae’s requirements for loan file submission:

• Files must adhere to Fannie Mae’s file packaging requirements.

• Files cannot be security protected; for example, use passwords, digital certificates, and/or certifying signatures.

• The contents of the PDF file must be legible and readable.

• Only one manifest file should be submitted that identifies all loan files transmitted on a given day. See “Chapter 4: Manifest Files” file on page 10 for a detailed description and requirements for this file.

Additionally, as a general guideline, file sizes must be less than 100 MB. Files sizes larger than 100 MB may indicate excessive duplicate documents.

Loan files exceeding 100 MB that do not contain excessive duplicate documentation may be broken up into several PDF files as follows:

Format: <Fannie Mae Loan Num>_UniqueIdentifier.<extension> Example: 1234567890_1.pdf

1234567890_2.pdf 1234567890_3.pdf, and so on

Important: If using a unique identifier, the Fannie Mae loan number must be the first segment of the file name.

Chapter 4: Manifest Files


Chapter 4: Manifest Files Manifest files, which lists all loan files that were transmitted on a given day, allow Fannie Mae to identify all loan files that have been successfully submitted by lenders and to reconcile any discrepancies if necessary. Please note that without the manifest file, Fannie Mae is unable to assist lenders with reconciliation.

This section provides the requirements for manifest file submission. Topics are:

• Manifest File Transmission – page 10-11

• Manifest File Names – page 10

• Manifest File Content – page 11

Manifest File Transmission You submit a single manifest file each day that you transmit loan files to Fannie Mae. A manifest file identifies all loan files that were transmitted during the associated day.

The manifest file must be received no later than 10:00 PM Eastern Time the same day loan files are transmitted. For example, the manifest file for loan files transmitted on June 1 must be received by 10:00 PM Eastern Time on June 1.

Manifest File Names The file name for a manifest file must contain:

1. Your lender name

2. An underscore

3. The “LoanDocuments” identifier

4. An underscore

5. The date and time the manifest file was transmitted (Note: Seconds can be estimated)

6. The mnf file extension

Format and example for the manifest file name:

Format: <LenderName>_LoanDocuments_<YYYYMMDDHHMMSSsss>.<extension>

Example: LenderName_LoanDocuments_20120615094322000.mnf

Chapter 4: Manifest Files


NOTE: The manifest file can be created in Notepad or WordPad then converted to a .mnf extension when replacing the .txt extension with this.

Manifest File Content The manifest file must contain a separate line item entry for each transmitted loan file. Identifiers for the loan files must contain:

1. The Fannie Mae loan number

2. A comma separator

3. The file name (exactly as you named the file)

4. Three trailing commas

Format and example:

Format: <FannieMaeLoanNo>,<FileName>,,,

Example: 1234567890,1234567890.pdf,,,

1234567891,1234567891.pdf,,,

1234567892,1234567892.pdf,,,

1234567893,1234567893.pdf,,,

Or

1234567890,1234567890_111111.pdf,,,

1234567891,1234567891_111112.pdf,,,

1234567892,1234567892_111113.pdf,,,

1234567893,1234567893_111114.pdf,,,

Important: You must insert line breaks (returns) after every entry including the last entry.


Chapter 5: Troubleshooting Errors can occur during the process of submitting loan files to Fannie Mae. These errors can prevent Fannie Mae from receiving the requested files or using them to perform loan reviews.

If you receive notification that an error has occurred, refer to the information that follows for a description of the problem and the corrective actions. This troubleshooting information is organized and presented based on the following classifications:

• File Packaging Errors – page 13-15

• Transmission/Receipt Errors – page 16-17

Caution: The errors described in this chapter, if not resolved in a timely manner, can result in the issuance of non-compliance letters.

Tip: You can also use this troubleshooting information to avoid problems. By becoming familiar with the errors that can occur, you can perform the appropriate preventative steps prior to initiating file transfers.

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting


File Packaging Errors The following errors are associated with the packaging of the requested loan files and require resolution.

Table 1: File Packaging Errors

Error Notification Cause(s) Corrective Actions

File type is not recognized.

Notified by Fannie Mae

Invalid file format (does not have a PDF file extension).

1. Save the file as a PDF file. See File Packaging Requirements on page 8.

2. Resend the file.

File cannot be opened and indexed.


PDF file is security protected; for example, uses passwords, digital certificates, and/or certifying signatures.

1. Remove all security protection.

2. Resend the file.


File is corrupt. 1. Ensure the file can be opened and the content is readable.

2. Resend the file.

Caution: Lenders are responsible for identifying and eliminating reoccurring (systemic) issues. In all cases, you should:

1. Conduct a root-cause analysis to determine if the error is systemic.

2. If systemic, isolate the cause and implement remediation.

Depending on the scope of the problem, Fannie Mae may suspend use of B2B file transfers until the issue is resolved. If B2B file transfer is suspended, you must immediately contact [email protected] for alternative submission options.





File cannot be uploaded to QAS.


Invalid file name: • File name does not

contain a valid Fannie Mae loan number.

• The Fannie Mae loan number is not the first segment of the file name if a unique identifier was used.

• An underscore is not used to separate the segments within the file name.

• File name contains special characters that are not allowed.

• File name exceeds the maximum number of allowable characters.

1. Rename the file using the specified naming conventions. See File Packaging Requirements on page 8.

2. Resend the file.

Submitted documents do not correspond with the loan number.


The documents in the consolidated file are for a different loan.

1. Repackage the file to contain the appropriate documents. See File Packaging Requirements on page 8.

2. Resend the file.




One or more pages of a document are not legible.


The image quality of the document is poor, which can result from: • A poor quality

original • An issue introduced

during: – Electronic

conversion – File transmission

or receipt

1. Check the electronic source.

2. If legible, resend the file.

3. If not legible and the problem cannot be corrected, notify the Document Management Group of a “defective document.”

Excessive duplicate documents are sent.


Excessive duplicates, such as numerous copies of the same document or more than one copy of the entire loan file can be the result of a human or system error.

1. Perform the following steps as applicable: a. Remediate

processes. b. Remove duplicate

documents from the PDF file.

2. Resend the file.



Transmission/Receipt Errors The following errors are associated with the transfer and receipt of requested loan files, and require resolution.

Table 2: Transmission/Receipt Errors


File is not sent. Lender self detects or is notified by Fannie Mae

One or more intended files were not transmitted.

1. Compare the list of files you intended to send on your manifest to the report of files actually sent.

2. Transmit the files not originally sent.

Notes:

Both Activator and Connect:Direct provide automated transmission and confirmation reporting.

Additionally, Fannie Mae will use the manifest file you provide to identify discrepancies. See “Chapter 4: Manifest Files” on page 10.

Caution: Lenders are responsible for identifying and eliminating reoccurring (systemic) issues. In all cases, you should:

1. Conduct a root-cause analysis to determine if the error is systemic.

2. If systemic, isolate the cause and implement remediation.

Depending on the scope of the problem, Fannie Mae may suspend use of B2B file transfers until the issue is resolved. If B2B file transfer is suspended, you must immediately contact [email protected] for alternative submission options.





File transmission failed.

Error message

Transmission failure associated with the file transfer software.

Follow the corrective actions provided in the error message and/or the support documentation associated with the file transfer software.

Received file is infected.


Virus scan indicated the file is infected.

1. Clean the file using an antivirus program.

2. Resend the file.