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Guidelines for Entering Data

Sellers must provide all required Housing Goals data fields for every loan acquired by Fannie Mae. This information is used by our regulator to determine whether Fannie Mae is satisfying the requirement, among other things, to provide affordable housing to low-income borrowers and those living in low-income areas. This data includes details on the borrower(s) (race, ethnicity, gender, age, income, first-time homebuyer status, etc.) as well as the loan details (mortgage note date, APR spread, loan purpose, loan type, etc.).

Descriptions of Housing Goals Data Fields

The following sections describe the information you will need to add to each of the Housing Goals data fields.

Demographic Information

On Sept. 23, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).published a final rule amending Regulation C to implement amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Among other changes, the final rule modified the reportable data requirements related to the collection of borrower ethnicity, race, and gender. Lenders will be required to collect the new and amended borrower Demographic Information on loans with an application date on or after January 1, 2018. However, lenders were allowed to begin collecting the expanded Demographic Information in 2017 as part of their preparation to meet CFPB’s January 2018 mandate. The CFPB website has additional information, including details of the September 20, 2017, final rule that amends Regulation B in order to facilitate compliance with Regulation C.

Loan Delivery supports the collection of this new demographic information, which is also consistent with the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA), Section 7 Demographic Information and the URLA – Demographic Information Addendum.

Please refer to the Demographic Information job aids for additional details.

Total Monthly Income

Definition: Value indicating the combined monthly income of all borrowers whose income is used to qualify for the mortgage.

  • The borrower-level field, Qualifying Income, captures each borrower’s delivered individual income.

  • Negative income will not be accepted.

  • Provide gross monthly income, not net income.

Number of Bedrooms and Rent

Definition: Bedroom Count is a numeric value indicating the total number of bedrooms in a 1-family property.

  • If the structure is a 2, 3, or 4-family property, indicate the total number of bedrooms within each unit of the structure. The only reasonable values supported are zero to nine (0-9). In the case of studios/efficiencies, enter zero (0) for the number of bedrooms. Because the format is Numeric (1), a value greater than nine for Bedroom Count is not allowed. In the rare case there are more than nine bedrooms, enter nine (9).   

NOTE: Include only above-grade bedrooms for 1-unit properties. Include both above and below-grade bedrooms for 2-4 unit properties.

  • Rent is not allowed for the first unit of an Owner Occupied property. Assumption: The first unit of an Owner Occupied property is assumed to be occupied by the owner.

  • Required for the second through fourth units of an Owner Occupied property, and first through fourth units of an Investment property.

  • Exception: For Studios, deliver zero (0) for Number of Bedrooms.

NOTE: There is no sequence number for Bedroom and Rents on the MISMO import file. Enter a $0 Rent for the first unit of a 1-4 unit Owner Occupied property, to ensure that the proper sequence of Bedrooms and Rents are saved for each corresponding unit in Loan Delivery. In this instance, since Rent is not allowed for the first unit of an Owner Occupied property, $0 confirms that no Rent is being charged.

  • Bedrooms and Rents may be optional based on Occupancy Status:

  • Number of Bedrooms is optional for the first unit of an Owner Occupied property.

  • Number of Bedrooms is optional for Second Home properties. The rental amount should be zero for a Second Home property.

Property Dwelling Unit Eligible Rental Amount

Definition: Property Dwelling Unit Eligible Rental Amount is a value indicating the current actual monthly rent for either a 1-family investment property, or a unit of a 2- 4 family property (rounded to the nearest dollar). This could also apply to the estimated market rent (rounded to the nearest dollar) if the unit is not actively being rented. Fannie Mae only supports up to 5-digit values at this time. Refer to the Selling Guide for eligible rent requirements.

First Time Homebuyer

  • The Loan 1st Time Homebuyer field must be populated with Loan First Time Homebuyer when the loan qualifies as a first time homebuyer.

  • A borrower-level, 1st Time Homebuyer field, captures whether the individual borrower is a first time homebuyer.

  • If this borrower-level field is Yes, then the loan-level, Loan 1st Time Homebuyer field, must be populated with Loan First Time Homebuyer.

  • If any borrower in DU qualifies as a first time homebuyer, then the loan-level, Loan 1st Time Homebuyer field, must be Loan First Time Homebuyer. 

NOTE: It is possible for the loan-level, Loan 1st Time Homebuyer field, to equal Loan First Time Homebuyer, AND some of the borrower(s)-level 1st Time Homebuyer fields will equal No.

APR Spread

Fannie Mae requires APR Spread data to be delivered for all loans, regardless of the occupancy status.

For more information refer to: Housing Goals Data Field and Edit Definitions.