Appraiser Update

Preparing for UAD 3.6

The important thing for appraisers to know is that a few lenders will begin submitting 3.6 appraisals as early as Sept. 8, as part of the Limited Production Period. Appraisers with diversified client bases should be prepared to deliver 3.6 appraisals by that date. Most lenders will adopt later during the Broad Production Period, beginning on Jan. 26. 

Government agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Veteran Affairs (VA) have expressed intentions to adopt UAD 3.6, and will communicate their own implementation plans and timelines.  

This means appraisers should be able to generate appraisal reports in either version of UAD from the production launch until at least Nov. 2026.

Here are some actions you can take:

Additional Resources

We recommend appraisers visit our UAD webpage to find additional resources to prepare for UAD 3.6. It includes the full UAD implementation timeline and other helpful documents such as Appendix F-1 of the URAR Reference Guide. And, of course, we are always happy to help. Please feel free to contact us directly at [email protected].

Selling Guide Changes for UAD 3.6

On June 4, 2025, Fannie Mae added a supplement to our Selling Guide to support appraisal reports in UAD 3.6, since appraisers may be delivering reports in either UAD 2.6 or UAD 3.6 as early as September 2025. The supplement has the same force of policy as the main body of the Selling Guide but applies only to UAD 3.6. While the terminology in the supplement has been updated to match UAD 3.6, the intent of the policies has not changed.

Selling Guide readers need to know how to locate both the UAD 2.6 and UAD 3.6 policy. Through Nov. 1, 2026, all UAD 2.6 policy will be found in the Selling Guide. However, the Selling Guide supplement, which applies to UAD 3.6, can be found on the Selling and Servicing Guide Communications and Forms page (under the Key Selling Guide Resources section) and on the UAD page.

While there are minor related changes throughout the Selling Guide, the principal changes are concentrated in these sections:

This is explained in section 18 Projects in Appendix F-1: URAR Reference Guide. See F-1 for UAD 3.6 Help in this edition.

To see this mockup in full, download Appendix D-1 URAR Sample Scenarios and XML Files, then open the Appendix D-1 Condo1_Appraisal file.

Changes to Our Square Footage Policies

To enhance consistency with UAD and with American National Standards Institute® (ANSI®) Z765-2021 (ANSI standard) nomenclature, we have retired the terms gross living area (GLA) and basement from the Selling Guide. These are now referred to as above-grade finished area and below-grade finished area. Additionally, the Guide defines nonstandard finished area and noncontinuous finished area to bridge the gap between ANSI’s definition of finished area and unfinished area.

We have also retired the GXX001- exception code. Appraisers are required to fully comply with the ANSI standard for applicable property types, effective Aug. 8, 2025. The standard itself defines how to manage exceptions through declarations for:

Appraisers should study the ANSI standard to gain an in-depth understanding of when the declarations are needed.

NOTE: Fannie Mae does not allow exterior-only appraisals.

Fannie Mae’s policy allows alternate measuring standards if mandated by state law or regulatory requirements but does not allow any other exceptions to the ANSI standard.

For appraisers, this also means reporting the finished area in the correct field, regardless of the impact on the Sales Comparison grid. For instance, an earth berm home would have no above grade finished area or room count.

Stay up to date by reviewing B4-1.3-05, Improvements Section of the Appraisal Report section of the Fannie Mae Selling Guide and the newly updated Standardized Property Measuring Guidelines Fact Sheet and FAQ.

Comments, Repetition, and Templates 

Prescribed Statements 

Fannie Mae appraisal reports prescribe a specific Scope of Work, Intended Use, Intended User, Definition of Market Value, Statement of Assumptions and Limiting Conditions, and Certifications. Our policy does not allow appraisers to remove, modify, or edit these statements. Also, they can include additional certifications (such as those required by law or related to the appraiser’s membership in an appraisal organization) so long as they do not constitute material alterations to the appraisal report. Interestingly, we often see narrative comments added by appraisers that repeat, paraphrase, or, in some cases, conflict with the prescribed statements. Consider this example of a statement made in the comment addendum of a recent appraisal:

Compare that statement to our Appraiser Certification #17:

These are obviously very similar statements. It is striking that the appraiser duplicated certification #17 almost word for word but deleted the parts about having no prospective interest and no bias with respect to the participants. Why was this redundant statement added? Why were certain words left out? This could be interpreted as an attempt by the appraiser to evade the requirements to be disinterested and unbiased. 

Restating limiting conditions or certifications is a common appraisal practice. For example, we often see appraisers add comments like “I did not take into consideration race, color, religion, sex, age …”. This duplicates certification #17 so it is unnecessary. Even worse, it is likely to be identified as a reference to protected classes and trigger additional scrutiny from the lender. The appraiser may be asked to defend the language or remove it, resulting in extra work that could have been avoided. 

In short, any duplication or alteration of the prescribed statements causes confusion for the reader and potentially increases the appraiser’s liability. 

Another common source of rework for appraisers is the use of templates with statements that are not specific to the particular assignment. This might include census data, subjective commentary about the neighborhood, historical summaries, or generic descriptions of the community or municipality. Unless the appraiser explicitly ties these statements back to support specific appraisal results, they are probably unnecessary and may lead to confusion or compliance issues.

Safety, Soundness, and Structural Integrity 

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide requires appraisers to report any physical deficiencies affecting the “safety, soundness, or structural integrity of the property” and lenders to confirm that such deficiencies are remedied prior to delivery of the loan. The new UAD does not use the term “safety” because it is viewed as a subset of property soundness or structural integrity.

Incidentally, the new UAD requires appraisers to report any defects, damages, and deficiencies for six sections of the new URAR: Site, Dwelling Exterior, Unit Interior, Outbuilding, Vehicle Storage, and Subject Property Amenities. This is a change from the all-in-one structure of the legacy appraisal forms. All defects, damages, and deficiencies are displayed in the URAR Reconciliation section. Those requiring action also appear in the new URAR Summary section.

F-1 for UAD 3.6 Help 

The Appendix F-1: URAR Reference Guide and its supplement are invaluable resources to help appraisers adopt UAD 3.6. The Reference Guide is a PDF that explains how to enter information and how the data will be displayed in the URAR. The supplement is a spreadsheet that summarizes information about the Comparable Grids. Together, these documents contain nearly 400 pages of detailed information which serves as both a user manual and a dictionary. Becoming familiar with their structure will enable appraisers to quickly find answers to specific questions. 

The Reference Guide begins with a Revision History. Next comes a Table of Contents with links to an Introduction, Overview, Header and Footer, 29 numbered chapters, and four appendices, including new and improved Condition and Quality Ratings Definitions. While there isn’t space here to cover everything, we’ll highlight how it is organized and what you should pay attention to particularly.

Let’s not forget the Appendix F-1: URAR Reference Guide Supplement which is a separate document from Appendix F-1: URAR Reference Guide. Why take the trouble of opening a second document? The UAD 3.6 revolutionizes the sales comparison grid, now with more than seventy possible rows to compare features and enabling the appraiser to add additional rows as needed. The rent comps and income analysis grids work similarly. To realize the potential that this new structure creates for appraisers to deliver dynamic, customized reports, familiarity with the Supplement is a must. 

Because it is a spreadsheet, the information is organized in sheets that are accessed by clicking on the tabs at the bottom of the document. The last three tabs are the most important for appraisers, covering the three grid sections of the URAR:

Again, the information is organized in tables where each row corresponds to a row in the actual grids. Columns include:

Row Displays if Applicable means the row is mandatory but only when the feature exists, while Row Displays if Relevant means the row will conditionally display when relevant, based on the property characteristics reported by the appraiser. 

Now that you have an idea how Appendix F-1: URAR Reference Guide and its supplement are organized, there’s no need to memorize them. Simply download and keep them handy to find answers later, as needed. You can download them here.