source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-b3-3.4-15
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.4-15 — Social Security Income
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.4-15 — Social Security Income.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-b3-3.4-15-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-b3-3.4-15-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.4-15 — Social Security Income
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.4-15 — Social Security Income
    source_class: fnma-guide
    source_url: https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/media/document/pdf/selling-guide
    snapshot_id: 5f7b8b79da595d76
    fetched_at: '2026-05-25T14:09:57Z'
    content_hash: sha256:98cf85a02861bbe84914a0e339b327c8fc131869a8a573882007bbeea60c5701
    paragraph_quote: 'B3-3.4-15, Social Security Income (03/04/2026) Social Security
      Income Social Security Income The following table provides requirements for
      Social Security income. Published May 6, 2026 354 Criteria Requirements Documentation
      The lender must obtain evidence of regular receipt of payments, as veriﬁed by
      the following, depending on the type of beneﬁt and the relationship of the beneﬁciary
      (self or other) as shown in the table below. In addition, an SSA Award letter
      may be used to document the income if the borrower is receiving Social Security
      payments or if the borrower will begin receiving payments on or before the ﬁrst
      payment date of the subject mortgage as conﬁrmed by a recently issued award
      letter. Type of Social Security beneﬁt Borrower is drawing Social Security beneﬁts
      based on own account/work record Borrower is drawing Social Security beneﬁts
      based on another person''s account/work record or based on their own account/work
      record for the beneﬁt of another 1 Retirement • Social Security Administration''s
      (SSA) Award letter, • SSA-1099, • Most recent signed federal income tax returns
      (or tax transcripts 2), or • Proof of current receipt • SSA Award letter, •
      Proof of current receipt, and • Three-year continuance Disability • Social Security
      Administration''s (SSA) Award letter, • SSA-1099, • Most recent signed federal
      income tax returns (or tax transcripts 2), or • Proof of current receipt Survivor
      Beneﬁts NA Supplemental Social Security Income • SSA Award letter, and • Proof
      of current receipt NA Published May 6, 2026 355 Criteria Requirements Income
      History No minimum history is required. Income Continuance Retirement/Long-Term
      Disability based on own account/work record: Lenders are not required to verify
      continuance unless they have reason to believe the income may not continue.
      Other scenarios: The lender must document that income is expected to continue
      for at least three years from the note date. Note: Conﬁrmation of three-year
      continuance does not require documentation that provides a deﬁned expiration
      date and can be assessed by verifying the SSA''s requirements related to the
      speciﬁc beneﬁt(s) being paid. For example, if the SSA ties receipt of the beneﬁts
      to the beneﬁciary''s age, conﬁrmation of a three-year continuance can be met
      by verifying the beneﬁciary''s age supports that beneﬁt(s) will continue for
      at least three years from the date of the note date. Determination of Qualifying
      Income The monthly income amount as documented above may be used as qualifying
      income. Note: The lender is not required to provide documentation to support
      that 15% of the Social Security income is nontaxable. Example: • Beneﬁt amount:
      $1,500 • Nontaxable amount: $1,500 x 15% = $225 • Gross-up amount: $225 x 25%
      = $56 (rounded to the nearest dollar) • Qualifying income: $1,556 (does not
      required additional documentation If the lenders opts to gross-up more than
      15% of Social Security income, then additional documentation to support that
      nontaxable income must be included in the loan ﬁle. See B3-3.1-01, General Income
      Information for nontaxable income guidelines. DU Validation Service If a borrower''s
      Social Security income is validated by the DU validation service, DU will issue
      a message indicating the required documentation. This documentation may diﬀer
      from the requirements described above. See B3-2-02, DU Validation Service for
      additional information. Examples of how a borrower might draw Social Security
      beneﬁts from another person''s account/work record and use the income for qualifying:
      A borrower may be eligible for beneﬁts from a spouse, ex-spouse, or dependent
      parents (the beneﬁt is paid to the borrower on behalf of the spouse, etc.; or
      A borrower may use Social Security income received by a dependent (a minor or
      disabled dependent). 1 Published May 6, 2026 356 If joint tax returns or tax
      transcripts include income that is not associated with a borrower on the loan
      transaction, the lender must obtain additional documentation supporting the
      amount of income from the SSA being used in qualifying, such as the SSA-1099.
      2 Recent Related Announcements The table below provides references to recently
      issued Announcements that are related to this topic. Announcements Issue Date
      Announcement SEL-2026-02 March 04, 2026'
  judgment: false
