Are you taking advantage of the Freddie Mac selling system customer test environment (CTE) to prepare for the Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset (ULDD)? The CTE previews the updated version of the selling system, which you will see and experience beginning April 23, 2012. The CTE allows you to conduct end-to-end testing of your loan delivery process under the ULDD requirements and it provides you with an important tool to test your readiness for the ULDD. (Please remember that before you can access the CTE, you'll need to take our mandatory Loan Entry and Evaluation with the ULDD Web-based CTE training, which will provide you with the guidance you need to begin your testing.)

Leveraging the CTE is an important step in your ULDD preparation, whether you manually enter your loans or use a vendor's technology solution to import your data into the selling system. If your vendor has released their software update, you will want to conduct your own CTE testing of import capabilities, familiarize yourself with the new edit messages, and ensure your processes are working correctly. Be sure to check our Web site for the status of your vendor's verification and software-release.

Don't wait until the last minute to leverage the CTE. By using the system now, you'll have the focused attention of the Freddie Mac call center and other representatives, as we expect lower call volumes in February and March. Additionally, you will have time to address any problems in your process or data that you may discover through testing, so that you can ensure that your team is prepared for a successful implementation.

Once you're in the selling system CTE, be sure to take full advantage of its capabilities. Remember that you're in a test environment, so it's safe to "play around" with the system – even though the CTE is a realistic representation of our planned April 23, 2012, production system, it's just a simulation. We encourage you to take out a "pretend" contract and create a few loan records, either through import or manual entry. For a full, end-to-end view of how the selling system works, you can:

  • Allocate your loan records to the contract,
  • Clear all purchase edits,
  • Trigger your settlement statement, and
  • Export your data using the ULDD export formats.

Once you receive the resulting settlement statements, you can share them with the appropriate people in your office, so that everyone within the selling system loan processing chain can be prepared for your ULDD implementation.

Remember – by leveraging the CTE today, you'll avoid the rush in April, have the dedicated attention of Freddie Mac resources, and have more time to prepare your systems and staff for a successful implementation.

Please visit our ULDD Web page for more news and information.