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-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. |
| Lender Letter LL-2021-03 – Impact of Covid-19 on Originations | February 15, 2023-This Lender Letter provides reminders and temporary flexibilities to support mortgage originations. |
| Announcement SEL-2023-01: Selling Guide Updates | February 1, 2023-The February Selling Guide update; helps to provide equitable and sustainable access to housing by expanding the use of site-built homes as comparable sales for MH Advantage® homes, and making enhancements to support borrowers with nontraditional credit; promotes safe and responsible lending by implementing new eligibility requirements for cash-out refinance transactions; makes several miscellaneous updates. |
| Announcement SEL-2022-10 – Selling Guide Updates | December 14, 2022-The December Selling Guide update; helps to provide equitable and sustainable access to housing by expanding manufactured home eligibility, simplifying use of HomeStyle® Energy loans, and updating valuation options for certain deed-restricted properties; promotes safe and responsible lending by updating: property, flood, and project insurance requirements, and requirements for maintaining seller and servicer approval status; simplifies documentation requirements for use of business assets; clarifies certain requirements related to grants and borrower contribution requirements, and temporary leave income; and includes several miscellaneous updates. |
| Lender Letter LL-2022-08 – Florida’s Temporary Market Stabilization Arrangement | December 7, 2022-This Lender Letter contains temporary guidance on the provisional acceptance of property insurance policies in Florida in conjunction with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s (FLOIR) establishment of a temporary reinsurance arrangement through Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Citizens). |
| Lender Letter LL-2022-06 – Confirmation of Conforming Loan Limit Values for 2023 | November 29, 2022-Fannie Mae loan limit values are increasing in 2023. The new loan limit for most of the country will be $726,200 — an 12.21% increase over the 2022 limit — and is effective for whole loans delivered to Fannie Mae and loans in MBS pools with issue dates on or after Jan. 1, 2023. |
| Lender Letter LL-2022-05 Updates to Loan Level Price Adjustments | November 4, 2022-(Updated Feb. 1, 2023) In response to our regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, we are making changes to our pricing framework, including waivers of loan-level price adjustments for certain borrowers and affordable mortgage products and changes to LLPAs for some cash-out refinance loans. |
| Announcement SEL-2022-09 – Selling Guide Updates | October 5, 2022-The October Selling Guide update includes changes related to retention of asset verification reports, Social Security income documentation, use of average median credit score for manually underwritten loans, and miscellaneous updates. |
| Lender Letter LL-2022-04 Maintaining Seller/Servicer Eligibility | September 21, 2022-At the direction of our regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and in coordination with Freddie Mac, we are updating our minimum financial requirements for seller/servicers, including an enhanced minimum net worth requirement applicable to all sellers/servicers, an enhanced minimum liquidity requirement applicable to all non-depository sellers/servicers, a new origination liquidity requirement applicable to certain non-depository sellers/servicers, and new requirements applicable to large non-depository sellers/servicers. |
| Announcement SEL-2022-08 – Selling Guide Updates | September 7, 2022-The September Selling Guide update expands the list of acceptable gift donors and makes several miscellaneous updates. |
