On March 23, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow the use of valuation alternatives to reduce the need for appraisers to conduct interior inspections on eligible mortgages by May 17, 2020.
This step is designed to reduce transaction delays as appraisers are unable or unwilling to enter properties to conduct interior inspections.
Fannie Mae
On March 23, 2020, Fannie Mae published Lender Letter LL-2020-04, Effects of COVID-19 on Assessments, which provides temporary guidance on assessment requirements. The guidelines allow lenders to use desktop reviews and only external reviews for purchase transactions until May 17, 2020. Fannie May has also provided a language that the reviewer must copy and paste into their report in order to accommodate the revised scope of work, specification of assumptions and constraints, and certification for some of the scenarios presented.
Fannie Mae rating alternatives
Freddie Mac
On March 23, 2020, Freddie Mac published Bulletin 2020-5, Sales Guidelines on COVID-19, which provides temporary guidance on assessment requirements. The guidelines allow lenders to use desktop reviews and only external reviews for purchase transactions until May 17, 2020. Freddie Mac has also provided a language that the evaluator must copy and paste into their report to accommodate the revised scope of work, specification of assumptions and constraints, and certification for some of the scenarios presented.
Freddie Mac rating alternatives
