source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-b4-1.3-12
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-12 — Appraisal Quality Matters
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-12 — Appraisal Quality Matters.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-b4-1.3-12-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-b4-1.3-12-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-12 — Appraisal Quality Matters
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-12 — Appraisal Quality Matters
    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: 'B4-1.3-12, Appraisal Quality Matters (09/03/2025) Introduction
      This topic contains information on appraisal quality matters, including: Changes
      to the Appraised Value Guidance on Addressing Appraisal Deﬁciencies Lender Requirements
      Fannie Mae’s Referrals to State Appraiser Boards Refusal to Accept Appraisals
      from Speciﬁc Appraisers Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6 Policy Changes to
      the Appraised Value The lender is responsible for conﬁrming that appraisal reports
      are complete and that any changes to the reports are made by the appraiser that
      originally completed the report. If the lender has concerns with any aspect
      of the appraisal that result in questions about the reliability of the opinion
      of market value, the lender must attempt to resolve its concerns with the appraiser
      that originally prepared the report. If the lender is unable to resolve its
      concerns with the appraiser, the lender must obtain a replacement report prior
      to making a ﬁnal underwriting decision on the loan. Any request for a change
      in the opinion of market value must be based on material and substantive issues
      and must not be made solely on the basis that the opinion of market value as
      indicated in the appraisal report does not support the proposed loan amount.
      For information concerning the Published May 6, 2026 590 process lenders must
      follow to address a change of the opinion of market value, see Guidance on Addressing
      Appraisal Deﬁciencies in this topic. Lenders must pay particular attention and
      institute extra due diligence for those loans in which the appraised value is
      believed to be excessive or when the value of the property has experienced signiﬁcant
      appreciation in a short time period since the prior sale. Fannie Mae believes
      that one of the best ways lenders can reduce the risk associated with excessive
      values or rapid appreciation is by receiving accurate appraisals from knowledgeable,
      experienced appraisers. Guidance on Addressing Appraisal Deﬁciencies If the
      lender considers an appraisal deﬁcient, it has the following options for addressing
      the deﬁciencies: contacting the appraiser to address deﬁciencies contained in
      the appraisal report, obtaining a desk review or a ﬁeld review of the original
      appraisal, or obtaining a new appraisal of the subject property. The lender
      can return the appraisal report to the appraiser that completed the assignment,
      identify the deﬁciencies found, and provide justiﬁcation for requesting correction
      of the deﬁciencies the lender believes make the report unreliable. If the lender
      is unable to obtain a revised appraisal that adequately addresses its concerns,
      a desk or ﬁeld review of the report may be obtained. The review must be completed
      in accordance with the USPAP. Because the Scope of Work for either type of review
      allows for a change of the opinion of market value for something other than
      a mathematical error, the appraiser completing the appraisal review must be
      licensed or certiﬁed in the state in which the property is located, have access
      to the appropriate data sources, and possess the knowledge and experience to
      appraise the subject property with respect to both the speciﬁc property type
      and geographical location. See B4-1.1-06, Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) and
      the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP) for additional information on loans
      underwritten with a desk or ﬁeld review. The lender may forego either type of
      review and obtain a new appraisal. When a new appraisal is obtained, the lender
      must document the deﬁciencies that are the basis for ordering the new appraisal
      and adhere to a policy of selecting the most reliable appraisal, rather than
      the appraisal that states the highest value. The lender must either document
      in the loan ﬁle the resolution of the noted deﬁciencies in the original appraisal
      or detail the reasons for relying on a second opinion of market value. Lender
      Requirements A lender must continually evaluate the quality of the appraiser’s
      work through the normal review process of all appraisal reports, as well as
      through the spot-check ﬁeld review or desk review of appraisals as part of its
      quality assurance system. Reconsideration of Value For loans requiring an appraisal
      report, the lender must have policies and procedures in place for a borrower-
      Published May 6, 2026 591 initiated reconsideration of value (ROV). At a minimum,
      the ROV process must meet Fannie Mae requirements and adhere to all applicable
      local, state, and federal laws. The ROV process must include a review and resolution
      procedure for the ROV request, and steps for the borrower(s) to appeal an appraisal
      when it is believed the opinion of value is unsupported, may be deﬁcient due
      to unacceptable appraisal practices, or reﬂects prohibited discriminatory practices.
      Regardless of the outcome of the ROV, the lender is responsible for ensuring
      the appraisal report and opinion of market value are reliable and adequately
      supported. The lender must provide a disclosure to the borrower outlining the
      ROV process when the appraisal report is provided to the borrower. The disclosure
      must make it clear that only one borrower-initiated ROV is permitted per appraisal.
      The following table describes the information required to initiate the ROV process.
      ✓ The borrower-initiated ROV must include... • Borrower(s) name, • Property
      address, • Eﬀective date of the appraisal, • Appraiser name, and • Date of the
      ROV request. Identiﬁcation and description of unsupported, inaccurate, or deﬁcient
      areas in the appraisal report. Additional data, information, or comparable properties
      (not to exceed ﬁve), and the related data sources (for example, the MLS listing
      number). An explanation of why the new data supports the ROV. In addition to
      the borrower ROV submission requirements, the lender''s ROV policies and procedures
      must include instructions on required information for a borrower-submitted ROV
      and standardized communication to the appraiser. The following table describes
      additional lender requirements. ✓ The lender must... complete its appraisal
      review before initiating the ROV process. designate an underwriter or other
      appraisal subject matter expert to review the ROV request. validate the request
      from the borrower contains suﬃcient details prior to sending to the appraiser.
      Published May 6, 2026 592 ✓ The lender must... obtain the necessary information
      from the borrower if the ROV request is unclear or needs more information. align
      its ROV policies and procedures with Appraiser Independence Requirements (AIR).
      standardize communication to the appraiser, that contains the following: • borrower(s)
      name, property address, eﬀective date of the appraisal, appraiser name, and
      date of the ROV; • identiﬁcation and description of unsupported, inaccurate,
      or deﬁcient areas in the appraisal report; • additional data, information, or
      comparable properties, not to exceed the maximum of ﬁve; • a deﬁnition of turn-time
      expectations for communicating ROV results; • instructions for delivering the
      ROV response as part of a revised appraisal report that includes commentary
      on conclusions regardless of the outcome; and • a reference for appraisers on
      how to correct minor appraisal issues or non-material errors not related to
      the ROV process. ensure documentation related to the outcome of the ROV is retained
      in the loan ﬁle. If material deﬁciencies identiﬁed in the appraisal report are
      not corrected or addressed by the appraiser upon request, or if there is evidence
      of any unacceptable appraisal practices detailed in B4-1.1-04, Unacceptable
      Appraisal Practices, the lender must forward the appraisal report and summary
      of ﬁndings to the appropriate appraisal licensing agency or regulatory board.
      The lender must also report suspected overt violations of anti- discrimination
      laws to the proper local, state, or federal agency. In the event of these occurrences,
      the lender may obtain a second or subsequent appraisal report. Note: After a
      loan has closed, an ROV request is no longer allowed to be submitted by the
      borrower. Fannie Mae’s Referrals to State Appraiser Boards Fannie Mae conducts
      diﬀerent levels of due diligence for quality control purposes and may refer
      unacceptable appraisal reports to state appraiser licensing or regulatory boards
      for investigation. Fannie Mae’s objectives in referring appraisal reports to
      state appraiser licensing or regulatory boards are to emphasize continuing eﬀorts
      to maintain the quality of appraisals, to protect Fannie Mae’s interest, to
      improve the quality of mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae by identifying appraisers
      that have performed appraisals of a suﬃciently poor quality as to impair the
      security interests, to help the industry enhance the quality of appraisals by
      identifying and referring appraisals that are not adequately supported or credible,
      and to help enforce professional standards. Published May 6, 2026 593 Note:
      Fannie Mae’s decision to make such referrals does not aﬀect the lender’s responsibility
      for managing the property valuation and appraisal review process. Refusal to
      Accept Appraisals from Speciﬁc Appraisers Fannie Mae may refuse to accept appraisals
      prepared by speciﬁc appraisers, or Fannie Mae may notify a lender that appraisals
      prepared by a given appraiser are no longer accepted. When a lender is notiﬁed
      that appraisals from speciﬁc appraisers are no longer accepted, the lender is
      prohibited from delivering mortgages to Fannie Mae secured by properties appraised
      by that individual immediately following its receipt of Fannie Mae’s notice.
      Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6 Policy Lenders using UAD 3.6 must follow
      the requirements in the UAD 3.6 Policy Supplement. Recent Related Announcements
      The table below provides references to recently issued Announcements that are
      related to this topic. Announcements Issue Date Announcement SEL-2025-07 September
      03, 2025 Announcement SEL-2025-04 June 04, 2025 Announcement SEL-2024-03 May
      01, 2024 Announcement SEL-2020-03 June 03, 2020 Section B4-1.4, Special Appraisal
      and Other Valuation Considerations'
  judgment: false
