Tagged: FNMA

ANSI Measuring Standard Required by FNMA 808

ANSI Measuring Standard Required in 2022

On December 15, 2021, Fannie Mae announced that it will be adopting ANSI Measuring Standard in 2022. Appraisers will be required to use the Square Footage-Method for Calculating: ANSI® Z765-2021 (American National Standards Institute®) Measuring Standard for measuring, calculating, and reporting gross living area (GLA) and non-GLA areas of subject properties for appraisals requiring interior and exterior inspections with effective dates of April 1, 2022 or later for loans sold to Fannie Mae. For more information, watch this video and check out this fact sheet.   Here are some items for appraisers to consider when using the ANSI standard Measurements...

Racial Bias in Appraisals Survey - Appraisers Blogs 7

Racial Bias in Appraisals Survey

Fannie Mae wants to hear from you about racial bias in appraisals. The survey closes on October 3, 2021. News media reports alleging racial bias in home appraisals have turned a spotlight on the appraisal process in the mortgage industry. We at Fannie Mae take allegations of appraisal bias seriously, and as one of the largest consumers of residential appraisals in the United States, we want to make sure we are doing all we can to identify and help prevent it. Many of the conversations on this topic have excluded appraisers. To help us address appraisal bias from all perspectives,...

Objective Terminology - Avoiding problematic phrases - Appraisers Blogs 6

Objective Terminology

  Appraisers should avoid using words that lend themselves to bias judgments. Instead, the appraisal report should document objective facts. “Bias” in appraisals has been a ‘hot topic’ around nationwide water coolers since about 2018, and even earlier. The GSE’s are particularly wary of any commentary in appraisal reports that appear to inject ‘bias’ into the value conclusion. In the June ’21 FNMA Appraiser Update newsletter, there is this article: Avoiding problematic phrases Stories in the media about racial bias in appraisals have been on the rise. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) expects appraisers to “not perform...

Opinion of an Insider on the New Form - Appraisers Blogs 13

Opinion of an Insider on the New Form

An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. There’s been a lot of mis-information about the new FNMA form posted so i thought i might clear the air a little bit. Being a software provider i’m in the loop but i can’t disclose every thing i know due to confidentiality. That being said i’m just the messenger and don’t shoot the messenger. the new form is not to put appraisers out of business. if they weren’t providing the new form, then i’d be worried. the previous forms were designed for a typewriter....

Who’s REALLY completing bifurcated/hybrid Reports? 14

Who’s REALLY Completing Hybrids?

Who’s REALLY completing bifurcated/hybrid appraisal reports? This essay has been “rattlin’ around my cranium” for a few months from the time I acquired two ‘case study’ report examples in early 2020. I’ve recently received a third bifurcated report, which has similar appraiser data. So now is a prime time to spill the beans, so to speak. Especially since FHFA, the conservator of Fannie and Freddie, is currently on a mission to “modernize the appraisal process.” They are seeking input from appraisers and other stakeholders who use appraisals. But first, as the infomercials say, there’s more! One ‘more’ concerns appraiser obligations...

Appraisal Forms Redesign - What's Coming Down the Track? 3

Appraisal Forms Redesign

In 2018, the GSEs began working on ‘mortgage lending appraisal forms redesign’, a process they said would take approximately 3 years to accomplish. The effort is currently underway, however they have not announced exactly when the process will be completed, or when the new forms will take effect. Attached is a PDF of their FAQs through June 2020 which you may want to peruse, just so you become more aware of “what’s coming down the track” not too long from now. From my quick read of this FAQ document, key items include: GSE forms are not to be used for...

Highest and Best Use - Dead in the Water - Appraisers Blogs 4

Highest and Best Use

Appraisers, I had a recent discussion with a review appraiser, who discussed a ‘situation’ with me. It involved Highest and Best Use (H&BU), and the appraiser’s reluctance to re-do a report so that a loan could be made. The appraiser had checked the H&BU question box on page 1 of the 1004 form as “NO”, which immediately stops the lending process. This H&BU topic is sometimes difficult for appraisers due to many variables which need to be analyzed. The twisted part of this situation (which influenced the appraiser’s H&BU reporting) is the property is in an area where some, not all,...

FNMA Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) Policy Updated 10

Fannie Mae’s ADU Policy Updated

On September 2, 2020, FNMA updated their policy allowing for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) on Single Family Residential (SFR) properties to be a Manufactured Home. This is in their Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2020-05, linked below. Key points: An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is an additional living area that is independent of the primary property and has basic bathroom, cooking, and sleeping facilities. With this update, we clarified ADU property eligibility and comparable sales requirements in the appraisal as follows: expanded the current definition of an ADU to improve proper classification of ADUs; expanded property eligibility by allowing multi-width manufactured homes...

Appraisal Report Corrections Protocol 27

Appraisal Report Corrections Protocol

For some time, appraisers have written or called me, asking about how to do report corrections, or respond to client requests – after an original report has been sent in. I decided to distribute these suggestions to encourage a uniform procedure across the appraiser universe. I don’t recall ever seeing anything published about this topic. Disclose, don’t bury – modifications, corrections or responses to the original report, or even subsequent changes. I have seen too many reports where the appraiser hides changes within the body of the report as if those were part of the original, when in fact they...

Ending the Conservatorship... Potential Changes to GSEs Gaining Steam 2

Potential Changes to GSEs Gaining Steam

Folks, if you have not been hiding under a rock since 2009, you know that both FNMA and FrMAC have been under ‘conservatorship’, regulated by FHFA for over the past 10+ years. If you’ve been paying attention, you also know that over the past few years there has been increasing talk to end the conservatorship, and now, to add competitors to the GSE’s in the mortgage loan purchase arena. That prospect is outlined in the latest Report to Congress by Mark Calabria, Director of FHFA, summarized in this article posted Tues, June 16, 2020, in Mortgage News Daily: The Federal...

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