During this COVID-19 national emergency, in many cases lenders are unable to obtain an appraisal based on a full interior and exterior inspection of the subject property. In response, we are allowing temporary flexibilities to our appraisal requirements. We are working closely with Freddie Mac under the guidance of FHFA to offer these temporary measures.
We are releasing information to our customers as quickly as possible and will update and republish this Lender Letter as new guidance becomes available. We have also published LL-2020-02, Impact of COVID-19 on Servicing, and LL-2020-03, Impact of COVID-19 on Originations.
This Lender Letter provides information about the following:
▪ Temporary appraisal requirement flexibilities: allowing exterior-only inspection appraisals or desktop appraisals
▪ Desktop appraisals: allowing for purchase transactions when an interior and exterior appraisal is not available
▪ Exterior-only inspection appraisals: allowing for purchase and refinances of Fannie Mae-owned loans
▪ Revisions to the scope of work, statements of assumptions and limited conditions, and appraiser’s certifications: requiring modified language to be used with exterior-only and desktop appraisals
▪ Additionalforminstructionsforappraisals:requiringidentificationof“exterior”or“desktop”ontheinteriorandexterior reports
▪ Identification of a Fannie Mae loan: reminding lenders about our Loan Lookup tool to identify Fannie Mae-owned loans
▪ Appraisal waivers: encouraging lenders to accept waiver offers when eligible
▪ Delivery requirements: changes are not required at this time in Loan Delivery
▪ Completionreports(Form1004D):allowingalternativeswhenaForm1004Dcannotbeobtained
▪ HomeStyle® Renovation and HomeStyle Energy requirements: requiring traditional appraisals for these transactions Effective: These temporary flexibilities are effective immediately for all loans in process and remain in place for loans with
application dates on or before May 17, 2020.