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24 | M R EP O RT EXPERT INSIGHTS Helping Homeowners Understand Their Options, Recognize Fraud During COVID-19 Danielle McCoy, VP and Fair Lending Officer, Fannie Mae, spoke on what the GSE is doing to ensure borrowers are not scammed during times of financial hardship. D anielle McCoy is Fannie Mae's VP and Fair Lending Officer. She reports to the EVP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, and leads Fannie Mae's fair lending program. McCoy is responsible for assessing and monitoring fair lending risk on an enterprise-wide level. She facilitates the company's compliance with fair lending laws and regulations and promotes fair and responsible lending throughout various aspects of Fannie Mae's business practices, including its underwriting stan- dards and pricing policies. McCoy spoke with MReport about how Fannie Mae is helping homeowners impacted by COVID- 19 understand all of the options they have available to them and protect them from fraud. M // What are some of the challenges in ensuring lending operations continue effectively and fairly during this socially distant environment? MCCOY // Like most others in the industry, Fannie Mae has adapted to a remote work environment. Fannie Mae has implemented business resiliency plans, technol- ogy systems, and a lot of inno- vation that have allowed us to continue our critical function of supporting the mortgage market. What's been most concerning though, is the effect of COVID- 19 on homeowners and renters. Based on our monthly surveys of consumers, we found that many mortgage holders and renters say that their financial health has been very or extremely negatively impacted by COVID- 19. They've also reported a loss or decrease in income because of COVID-19. This is a key reason we're focused on making sure that people with these concerns are aware of their options, which are featured on our website KnowYourOptions.com. M // What is Fannie Mae doing to ensure homeowners are protected from fraud during this pandemic? MCCOY // We're working through our Here to Help education effort to make sure people know about the many options avail- able to them. As I mentioned, KnowYOptions.com is a great resource and there's a page on KnowYourOptions.com dedicated to fraud prevention. On that site, you'll see that we give people useful tips, notably that we will never contact you to ask for your personal information, to loan you money, or to modify your mortgage. What is also important to know