Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month announced new, synchronized requirements regarding the management of law firms for default servicing, bankruptcies, foreclosures and related litigation involving mortgages owned or guaranteed by the two GSEs. Effective June 1, 2013, Fannie’s and Freddie’s servicers will be allowed to choose their own attorneys, create their own processes for managing foreclosure processing and maintain direct relationships with their law firms. The new rules also require servicers to establish procedures to manage and monitor all aspects of the law firm’s performance and compliance with applicable requirements. Upon request, servicers will be required to perform a due diligence review and notify the GSEs of the result.Fannie’s and Freddie’s new rules were issued at the direction of the GSEs’ conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The directive comes more than a year after the FHFA’s Office of Inspector General dinged the agency for lax oversight of the GSEs and problems involving improper foreclosure practices with their affiliated law firms.