Selling Policy Communications

Access a list of Selling Announcements, Lender Letters, Notices, and related communications.

Selling Guide updates typically are published on the first Wednesday of the month.

Announcement SEL-2024-02: Selling Guide Updates March 6, 2024-In March, the Selling Guide has been updated to expand the DU validation service to allow income and employment validation using an asset verification report.
Announcement SEL-2024-01: Selling Guide Updates February 7, 2024-The February Selling Guide expands the value acceptance + property data offering to include condos, clarifies the qualifying rate for 7- and 10-year ARMS, allows cash-out refinances for manufactured homes with terms up to 30 years, updates eligible types of nontraditional credit references, clarifies policies for the use of business income, clarifies property insurance coverage requirements, updates mortgage origination definitions, and includes other miscellaneous updates.
Lender Letter LL-2024-01 – HomeReady Product Enhancement January 24, 2024-To address some of the barriers to entry for very low-income purchase borrowers, we are offering a temporary $2,500 loan-level price adjustment credit on our HomeReady® loan product. This credit can be used for down payment and closing costs on loans delivered after March 1, 2024.
Announcement SEL-2023-11: Selling Guide Updates December 13, 2023-The December Selling Guide has been updated to permit lenders to use alternative options to meet verbal verification of employment requirements, allow optional use of Income Calculator to determine the monthly qualifying income for self-employed borrowers, and more.
Lender Letter LL-2023-09 – Confirmation of Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2024 November 28, 2023-Fannie Mae loan limit values are increasing in 2024. The new loan limit for most of the country will be $766,550 — a 5.56% increase over the 2023 limit — and is effective for whole loans delivered to Fannie Mae and loans in MBS pools with issue dates on or after Jan. 1, 2024.
Announcement SEL-2023-10: Selling Guide Updates November 1, 2023-The November Selling Guide has been updated to prohibit an employment offer or contract for future employment from a family member or interested party to a transaction, updates general lender requirements regarding lender staffing, training, and policies and procedures to maintain seller/servicer eligibility, clarifies the policy to acknowledge an unauthorized transfer of ownership or change in occupancy status, and updates the Special Lender Approval Form (Form 1000A) to make it easier for lenders to apply to sell or acquire servicing for HomeStyle® Renovation Mortgages.
Lender Letter LL-2023-08 – Representation and Warranty Enforcement Relief for Loans Impacted by a COVID-19 Forbearance October 18, 2023-With the guidance of our regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and in coordination with Freddie Mac, loans previously or currently in a COVID-19 forbearance may be eligible for relief from enforcement of representations and warranties using the criteria that apply to loans subject to a disaster-related forbearance in Selling Guide A2-3.2-02, Enforcement Relief for Breaches of Certain Representations and Warranties Related to Underwriting and Eligibility (the “framework”).
Announcement SEL-2023-09: Selling Guide Updates October 4, 2023-The The October Selling Guide: Updates requirements for rental income use towards qualifying; Allows less than 24-month history of self-employment, and one year of personal and business tax returns if certain criteria are met; Requires either the HUD Data Plate or HUD Certification Label information be provided in the appraisal report for existing properties; Clarifies policy that property data collection must be obtained and submitted to Property Data API prior to the note date; And other miscellaneous updates.
Announcement SEL-2023-08: Selling Guide Updates September 6, 2023-The September Selling Guide clarifies requirements for personal gifts and gifts of equity, clarifies property eligibility and comparable sale requirements for 3D printed homes, updates policy for using income earned from a trust towards qualifying, and includes other miscellaneous updates.
Announcement SEL-2023-07: Selling Guide Updates August 2, 2023-The August Selling Guide update revises the Appraiser Independence Requirements, introduces Property Data Collector Independence Requirements, and makes miscellaneous changes.
Announcement SEL-2023-06: Selling Guide Updates July 5, 2023-The July Selling Guide update revises our policies and review requirements for condo and co-op project eligibility for properties in need of critical repairs and/or that have special assessments, and more; adjusts eligibility requirements for limited cash-out refinance transactions, requiring at least one borrower to be a current owner of the subject property; and incorporates eligibility requirements for the sale of loans aged six months or less.
Announcement SEL-2023-05: Selling Guide Updates June 7, 2023-The June Selling Guide update allows temporary interest rate buydowns for mortgages secured by manufactured homes; allows 7- and 10-year ARM borrowers to be qualified using only the note rate; adds clarifying details for amounts that may be included with the payoff of existing loans in limited cash-out refinance transactions; and makes miscellaneous updates.
Selling Notice - Area Median Incomes 2023 May 31, 2023-Effective June 12, 2023, the 2023 area median income estimates (AMIs) will be implemented in Desktop Underwriter® (DU®), HomeReady® Application Programming Interfaces (API), Loan Delivery, the Area Median Income Lookup Tool, and published on the HomeReady®, RefiNow®, and Duty to Serve pages.
Selling Notice - Effective Date for Main Living Area Photographs in Appraisals May 24, 2023-This Notice specifies that we will require appraisal photographs for the main living areas of property interiors to include the living room, family room, dining room, all bedrooms, and all finished and unfinished areas of the basement for appraisals in loan applications dated on or after Sept. 1, 2023.
Lender Letter LL-2023-06 – Rescission of Loan-level Price Adjustments Based on DTI Ratio May 17, 2023-This Lender Letter rescinds the DTI ratio loan-level price adjustment (LLPA) attribute that was scheduled to apply to loans purchased on and after Aug. 1, 2023.
Announcement SEL-2023-04: Selling Guide Updates May 3, 2023-The May Selling Guide update revises the requirements for loans with shared equity or shared appreciation provisions; clarifies eligibility requirements for subordinate liens; and allows alternative documentation for IRS Form 4868 as evidence the borrower has filed an extension for the prior year’s tax returns.
Announcement SEL-2023-03: Selling Guide Updates April 5, 2023-The April Selling Guide update aligns Guide policy for the treatment of medical collections with the risk assessment performed by Desktop Underwriter®; adds reporting requirements for penalties and enforcement actions related to compliance with Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations; allows the use of a borrower’s earned real estate commission for down payment and closing costs; and makes miscellaneous updates.
Lender Letter LL-2023-01 – New Loan-level Price Adjustment Framework March 22, 2023-This updated Lender Letter provides information about future changes to loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) and an overall redesign of the LLPA matrix. It will be effective for all whole loans purchased on or after May 1, 2023, and for loans delivered into MBS with issue dates on or after May 1, 2023, with the exception of the DTI ratio LLPA, which will be effective Aug. 1, 2023.
Lender Letter LL-2023-02 – Private Transfer Fee Covenants: Exception for Certain Shared Equity Transactions March 8, 2023-Effective for loans with note dates on or after July 1, 2023, shared equity loans that are secured by properties subject to private transfer fee covenants will now be eligible for sale to Fannie Mae if they meet certain conditions. Loans with private transfer fee covenants are currently prohibited by the Selling Guide, unless permitted by the Private Transfer Fee Regulation.
Announcement SEL-2023-02: Selling Guide Updates March 1, 2023- The March Selling Guide update introduces, as part of valuation modernization, our transition to a range of options to establish a property’s market value, with the option matching the risk of the collateral and loan transaction; provides additional guidance on the use of sweat equity and nonprofit program providers; revises timelines and expectations for lenders’ prefunding and post-closing quality control reviews; requires the use of Condo Project Manager™ for projects when a lender Full Review is required; and makes miscellaneous updates.