Copyright and Preface

(1) © 2024 Fannie Mae. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without Fannie Mae’s prior written permission, except as may be provided herein or unless otherwise permitted by law. Limited permission to reproduce this publication in print in whole or in part and to electronically distribute parts of this publication are granted to Fannie Mae-approved lenders, servicers, and other mortgage finance professionals, strictly for their own use in originating mortgages, selling mortgages to Fannie Mae, or servicing mortgages for Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae may revoke these limited permissions by written notice to any or all Fannie Mae-approved users.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

A full version of this publication is available on Fannie Mae's Website.  If there should ever be a difference between this publication as it appears on the AllRegs® website and the version published by Fannie Mae, the difference is an error. In such event, the Fannie Mae version of this publication shall be deemed the correct authoritative version.

(2) Disclaimer: This publication is posted on the AllRegs website of ICE Mortgage Technology, Inc. (“ICE MT”) under license from and with the express permission of Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae makes no representation or warranty regarding any of the features, functionality, or other contents of the AllRegs website.

You acknowledge and agree (individually and on behalf of the entity for which you are accessing this publication, "You") that You may not make any claim against Fannie Mae or ICE MT for any errors, and: (i) neither Fannie Mae nor ICE MT shall be liable to You for any losses or damages whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from any errors, and (ii) ICE MT expressly disclaims any warranty as to the results to be obtained by You from use of the AllRegs website, and ICE MT shall not be liable to You for any damages arising directly or indirectly out of the use of the AllRegs website by You.

Content Organization

The Selling Guide is organized into parts that reflect how lenders generally categorize various aspects of their business relationship with Fannie Mae:

Part A, Doing Business with Fannie Mae

• Subpart 1: Approval Qualification
• Subpart 2: Lender Contract
• Subpart 3: Getting Started With Fannie Mae
• Subpart 4: Maintaining Seller/Servicer Eligibility

Part B, Originating through Closing

• Subpart 1: Loan Application Package
• Subpart 2: Eligibility
• Subpart 3: Underwriting Borrowers
• Subpart 4: Underwriting Property
• Subpart 5: Unique Eligibility and Underwriting Considerations
• Subpart 6: Government Programs Eligibility and Underwriting Requirements
• Subpart 7: Insurance
• Subpart 8: Closing: Legal Documents

Part C, Selling, Securitizing, and Delivering Loans

• Subpart 1: General Information on Execution Options and Loan Delivery
• Subpart 2: Whole Loan Transactions
• Subpart 3: Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS)

Part D, Ensuring Quality Control (QC) 

• Subpart 1: Lender QC Process
• Subpart 2: Fannie Mae QC Process

Part E, Quick Reference Materials

• Chapter 1: Selling Guide Resources
• Chapter 2: Exhibits
• Chapter 3: Glossary

Part A through Part D are structured hierarchically—by subpart, chapter, section, and topic—to present Fannie Mae requirements with increasing levels of detail, so that readers can quickly locate a subject of interest and find desired content. Part E includes a variety of support components—including Selling Guide Resources, Exhibits, and Glossary.

The Table of Contents provides additional details on the content. To learn more about the content included in a particular part and how content in that part is organized, see the Introduction provided at the beginning of the part.

Use of the Numbering System

The numbering system used to identify the levels of detail of the content contained within this Selling Guide can help the reader to navigate the Guide more easily and to recognize where a particular topic is contained within the content hierarchy.

Consider the numbering system identifier for the topic “Requirements for Credit Reports”:

B3-5.2-01 Requirements for Credit Reports

Based on the information in the following table, the reader can use the numbering system identifier to map the location and level of content within the Selling Guide.

For example, here is how the numbering system identifier for topic B3–5.2–01 maps to the content levels:

As shown above, the part and subpart are combined as B3-. The chapter and section are combined as 5.2- and the topic is added as 01.

Keep in mind that not all parts have subparts and not all chapters have sections. For example, the topic “Representation and Warranties Overview” has the numbering system identifier “A2-2-01” (which does not include a section):

Note: As topics are added, updated, and deleted with each publication of the Selling Guide, the chapters, sections and topic identifiers will change accordingly.

Trademark Acknowledgements

Fannie Mae's trademarks referenced in this Selling Guide are detailed on our  website and may be used without the corresponding symbol. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Effective Dates for the Selling Guide

Each topic within the Selling Guide is followed by a date shown in parentheses. Beginning with the publication of the 2009 Selling Guide, this date represents the date of the most recent Selling Guide announcement that amended content within an individual topic. The lender must refer to the individual Selling Guide announcement to determine the policy effective date. Links to announcements in the past five years that amended the policies in that topic can be found in the Recent Related Announcements table at the end of each topic, as applicable.

Topic updates with older related announcements can be found in prior PDF versions of the Selling Guide in the  Fannie Mae Selling and Servicing Policy Archives.

Amendments to the Selling Guide

Fannie Mae may at any time alter or waive any of the requirements of this Selling Guide, impose other additional requirements, or rescind or amend any and all material set forth in this Selling Guide. The lender must make sure that its staff is thoroughly familiar with the content and requirements of this Selling Guide, as it now exists and as it may be changed from time to time.

Notification of Changes and Updates

Fannie Mae notifies lenders of changes and updates to selling policies and procedures through Selling Guide announcements, lender letters, and notices as described below:

• Selling Guide Announcements – communicate policy changes that impact the Selling Guide and are incorporated into the Selling Guide on a monthly cycle. On occasion, a policy change may require immediate communication with Fannie Mae lenders and so is released "off-cycle" and incorporated into a future Selling Guide update. Announcements are numbered as: SEL-20XX-XX.

• Lender letters – present new or modified policies and procedures that are not documented in the Guide, such as policy changes that are temporary in nature, reminders of existing policies, or upcoming Guide updates. Lender letters are numbered as: LL-20XX-XX.

• Selling Notices – clarify or reiterate existing Selling Guide policies, provide advance notice of upcoming changes, provide minor updates to procedures, notify lenders of updated forms or documents posted on Fannie Mae’s website, communicate extended expiration dates or other important information. While notices may refer to requirements in the Selling Guide, they do not revise or otherwise change these requirements and are not used to communicate new policies. Notices are identified by the date published (and are not numbered).

Announcements, lender letters, and notices are incorporated into the Guide by reference, and as such, are legally binding.  Lender letters and notices continue to be in effect until any sunset date specified in the lender letter or notice or until amended by a subsequent lender letter, notice, or announcement

Guide updates, announcements, lender letters, and notices are communicated to lenders in two ways:

• posting the documents on Fannie Mae's website and the AllRegs^® subscription website, and

• email notification to lenders that subscribe to Fannie Mae’s email subscription service and select the option “Selling News”.

Fannie Mae does not mail printed copies of Guide updates, announcements, lender letters, or notices. Lenders that want printed copies may download and print PDF files of the documents posted on Fannie Mae's website.

Exhibits, Forms, and Content Incorporated by Reference

Information about the specific forms that lenders must use in fulfilling the requirements contained in the Selling Guide is given in context within the Guide. Lenders can access the actual forms in several ways:

• on Fannie Mae's website via the Guide Forms and Legal Documents pages, which provides a complete list of all forms and legal documents, or

• on the AllRegs subscription website for users with a full subscription to AllRegs.

Some exhibits that relate to Fannie Mae policies and requirements are only referenced in the Selling Guide and are posted in their entirety on Fannie Mae's website. All materials referenced by hyperlink, such as forms, exhibits, and reference materials that are posted to Fannie Mae's website are incorporated by reference into the Selling Guide and are fully enforceable.

Guide Maintenance

Periodically non-policy related maintenance is needed to ensure the integrity of the Selling Guide. Examples of maintenance includes, updating or removing links to content that has been moved or deleted, modifying terminology to align with corporate branding, and incorporating new features to help improve the ease of navigating the Guide.

Technical Issues

In the event of technical difficulties or system failures with Fannie Mae's website or with delivery of the “Selling + Servicing News” option of Fannie Mae’s email subscription service, users may select the “Contact Us” link on the website.

When Questions Arise

This Selling Guide explains the procedures for normal and routine selling matters. If a lender feels that a situation is not covered or a procedure may not apply because of certain circumstances, the lender’s principal contact should be its Fannie Mae customer account team. The Guide specifically indicates situations in which a lender may need to contact other groups within Fannie Mae, such as the Capital Markets Pricing and Sales Desk. For key contact information, refer to  E-1-02, List of ContactsE-1-02, List of Contacts. Lenders can also visit Ask Poli^® to get answers to policy and Selling Guide questions.