Value Acceptance
Eligibility and delivery overview
Updated September 2025
Fannie Mae is on a journey of continuous improvement to make the home valuation process more efficient and accurate. We provide a spectrum of options to establish a property’s market value, with the option matching the risk of the collateral and the loan transaction. The spectrum balances traditional appraisals with appraisal alternatives.
Value acceptance is Fannie Mae’s offer to accept the lender-submitted property value in Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) with no appraisal requirement for eligible transactions. The value submitted must be based on the contract price for a purchase transaction or the lender’s or borrower’s estimate of property value for a refinance transaction. Value acceptance offers are issued through DU using Fannie Mae’s database of millions of appraisals in Collateral Underwriter® (CU®) in combination with proprietary analytics to determine the minimum level of required collateral due diligence.
How value acceptance works
Value acceptance offers are available to all lenders through DU. There are no prerequisites and no registration process.
When a DU loan casefile receives a value acceptance offer and it is exercised by the lender, Fannie Mae accepts the value submitted by the lender and provides relief from enforcement of representations and warranties related to property value and marketability, physical property characteristics, and property eligibility, including condition (see the Selling Guide for additional program details). The lender is required to represent and warrant that the data (other than the value estimate) submitted to DU is complete and accurate, and lenders must order an appraisal if they have reason to believe that an appraisal is warranted based on additional information the lender has about the property or subsequent events.
As part of our value acceptance offering, value acceptance + property data extends the cost savings and efficiency benefits to more borrowers while identifying current subject property characteristics (including condition). Value acceptance + property data is offered when the loan application in DU meets all requirements for value acceptance, but Fannie Mae needs more information on the subject property. Review the Value Acceptance + Property Data Fact Sheet for details.
Refer to the Value Acceptance + Property Data Fact Sheet for the complete process of submitting loans for value acceptance + property data.
NOTE: Effective with the DU 12.0 release in January 2025, eligibility for both value acceptance and value acceptance + property data purchase transactions are expanding. The “Eligible and ineligible transactions” section below illustrates full eligibility requirements.
This summary is intended for reference only. All criteria are subject to the formal terms and conditions of the Fannie Mae Selling Guide. In the event of any conflict with this document, the Selling Guide will govern.
Benefits of value acceptance and value acceptance + property data
- Increased operational efficiencies can shorten the loan origination process by eliminating the need to obtain and review an appraisal.
- Day 1 Certainty® provides lenders relief from certain representations and warranties.
- Cost savings for the consumer as they don’t have to pay for the appraisal.
Eligible and ineligible transactions for value acceptance and value acceptance + property data
| Eligible transactions | Ineligible transactions |
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If a lender chooses not to exercise the value acceptance or value acceptance + property data offer, at a minimum, the lender is required to follow DU’s appraisal recommendations to sell the loan to Fannie Mae.
NOTE: DU will not offer value acceptance when an appraisal has been uploaded to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal® (UCDP®) within the prior 120 days from any lender.
