A3-3-04, Document Custodians (05/04/2022)

Certain documents related to Fannie Mae loans must be held by a Fannie Mae-approved document custodian. The document custodian is acting on behalf of the seller/servicer and Fannie Mae when certifying loan documents and data at the time of acquisition by Fannie Mae. The roles and responsibilities of the document custodian are described in the Fannie Mae Requirements for Document Custodians (RDC guide).

For whole loans and MBS loans (excluding eNotes), the seller/servicer must use one of Fannie Mae's active document custodians.

For whole loans or MBS loans delivered as eNotes, Fannie Mae is the document custodian but has designated certain third parties to certify eNotes. The seller/servicer must use an approved third party to certify eNotes to Fannie Mae.

Fannie Mae may require a seller/servicer or document custodian to transfer documents to a different document custodian, even if the current custodian satisfies Fannie Mae's requirements.

Refer to Fannie Mae's Active Document Custodians for a complete list of eligible document custodians.

The seller must add the document custodian to its profile within the Loan Delivery application. For all mortgage loans, the document custodian will certify the loans through the Document Certification application.

Each custodian arrangement must be evidenced by the execution of a Master Custodial Agreement (Form 2017). Form 2017 covers custodial arrangements for both whole loans and MBS loans. The seller/servicer sends the completed Form 2017 to the document custodian for execution. Upon receipt, the document custodian will send the seller/servicer ancillary documentation for completion. After the documentation and onboarding are complete, Fannie Mae and the document custodian will execute Form 2017. A copy of the fully executed Form 2017 will be returned to the seller/servicer for its records.

The following table contains additional seller/servicer responsibilities regarding document custodians.