source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-b3-5.4-03
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.4-03 — Documentation and Assessment of
    a Nontraditional Credit History
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.4-03 — Documentation and Assessment of
    a Nontraditional Credit History.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-b3-5.4-03-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-b3-5.4-03-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.4-03 — Documentation and Assessment of a
    Nontraditional Credit History
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-5.4-03 — Documentation and Assessment of
      a Nontraditional Credit History
    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: 'B3-5.4-03, Documentation and Assessment of a Nontraditional
      Credit History (02/07/2024) Introduction This topic contains information on
      the documentation and assessment of a nontraditional credit history, including:
      General Documentation Requirements Housing Payment History Standards for Individual
      Credit References Obtained Directly from a Creditor Standards for Documenting
      a Nontraditional Payment History Obtained From the Borrower Veriﬁcation of Bank
      Accounts and Wire Remittance Statements Borrowers with Disabilities Non-U.S.
      Citizen and Foreign Borrowers Assessment of the Payment History for Nontraditional
      Credit References General Documentation Requirements The lender can document
      the borrower’s nontraditional credit history directly from the borrower or the
      creditor, or by obtaining a nontraditional mortgage credit report from a consumer
      reporting agency. Housing Payment History The borrower’s housing payment history
      must be documented for the most recent consecutive 12-month period. The following
      documentation is acceptable: Canceled checks can be provided. In lieu of canceled
      checks, the lender may use the borrower’s bank statements, copies of money orders,
      or other reasonable methods for documenting timely housing payments. The documentation
      must clearly indicate the payee and amount being paid, and reﬂect that payments
      were made on a consistent basis. Direct veriﬁcation of the payment of rent from
      the landlord. Direct landlord veriﬁcation is acceptable Published May 6, 2026
      492 whether the landlord is an individual or a professional management company.
      If at least one borrower on the loan can document a housing payment as a nontraditional
      credit reference, the loan has met the housing payment history requirement.
      The lender is not required to obtain documentation of a housing payment history
      for other nontraditional credit borrowers on the loan. However, the lender must
      still document the minimum number of nontraditional credit references required
      for each nontraditional credit borrower. If two or more borrowers on a loan
      share the housing-related reference (for example, they are both named on the
      lease for the property in which they are living), that documentation counts
      as one nontraditional credit reference for each borrower, even if only one borrower
      has been making the payments. Note: If the credit report contains a housing
      payment reference and it includes the required information, including payment
      history, then the lender may use that housing payment reference as an acceptable
      nontraditional credit reference. For examples of acceptable housing payments
      to fulﬁll this housing payment history requirement, see B3-5.4-02, Number and
      Types of Nontraditional Credit References. Standards for Individual Credit References
      Obtained Directly from a Creditor Individual credit references (other than housing
      payments) from a creditor must include the following: the creditor’s name, the
      name of the individual providing the reference, the date the account was opened,
      the amount of highest credit, the current status of the account, the required
      payment amount, the unpaid balance, and the payment history. The historical
      status of each account must be stated in a “number of times past due” format
      using “0 X 30, 0 X 60, 0 X 90” days late. Note: Vague statements such as “current,”
      “satisfactory,” or “pays as agreed” are not acceptable by themselves. Standards
      for Documenting a Nontraditional Payment History Obtained From the Borrower
      For documentation obtained directly from the borrower, the following standards
      must be met: documentation that describes the terms of the debt repayment or
      contract together with canceled checks Published May 6, 2026 493 or copies of
      bills marked “paid” that reﬂect the borrower’s payment history over the most
      recent consecutive 12 months. withdrawals or debits on the borrower’s bank statements
      that show the payee information clearly listed for the creditor and that payments
      were made on a consistent basis over the most recent consecutive 12 months.
      Veriﬁcation of Bank Accounts and Wire Remittance Statements Account statements
      can be used to document a nontraditional credit history, provided they are from
      the borrower’s checking account, savings account, voluntary payments made to
      a payroll savings plan, or contributions to a stock purchase plan. The account
      statements must reﬂect an increasing balance as a result of periodic deposits
      over at least the most recent consecutive 12-month period, with contributions
      being made no less than quarterly. If the account statements demonstrate overdraft
      activity, that information suggests a weakness in the borrower’s ability to
      meet ﬁnancial obligations. The lender must assess the signiﬁcance of this information
      relative to the borrower’s overall credit risk. Note: If the loan is underwritten
      by DU and a cash ﬂow assessment is conducted using a third-party asset veriﬁcation
      report, diﬀerent requirements may apply (see B3-2-03, Risk Factors Evaluated
      by DU). Wire remittance statements can be used to document a nontraditional
      credit history, provided they demonstrate a consistent amount of funds being
      remitted over the most recent consecutive 12-month period. Borrowers with Disabilities
      If a borrower with disabilities does not have a credit score and a nontraditional
      credit history is being developed, the lender may use documentation provided
      by a court-appointed guardian, a Social Security Administration representative
      payee, or a parent, provided that this party: manages the borrower’s ﬁnancial
      transactions, maintains records on the borrower’s behalf, and uses credit accounts
      held jointly in the name of the person with disabilities to pay ﬁnancial obligations.
      The lender can use the documentation provided either to request a nontraditional
      mortgage credit report from a consumer reporting agency, or to establish a nontraditional
      credit history for the borrower, as described in this topic. Non-U.S. Citizen
      and Foreign Borrowers If a non-U.S. citizen or foreign borrower lacks suﬃcient
      credit references in the United States to satisfy Fannie Mae requirements, the
      lender must use credit references from foreign countries to achieve the required
      number of nontraditional credit references and establish a nontraditional credit
      proﬁle. Published May 6, 2026 494 Assessment of the Payment History for Nontraditional
      Credit References For each nontraditional credit reference, the following requirements
      must be met: There cannot be any delinquency on housing payments within the
      past 12 months. Only one account, excluding housing payments, can have a 30-day
      delinquency in the past 12 months. No collections (other than medical collections)
      or judgments have been ﬁled in the past 24 months. Judgments, liens, collections,
      and charge-oﬀs of non-mortgage accounts must be satisﬁed in accordance with
      B3-6-07, Debts Paid Oﬀ At or Prior to Closing (for manually underwritten loans),
      or B3-5.3-09, DU Credit Report Analysis (for loans underwritten with DU). Note:
      A borrower may lack suﬃcient credit to obtain a credit score. However, the lender
      must still consider any derogatory credit references that appear on the credit
      report. Recent Related Announcements The table below provides references to
      recently issued Announcements that are related to this topic. Announcement Issue
      Date Announcement SEL-2024-01 February 07, 2024 Announcement SEL-2023-01 February
      01, 2023 Chapter B3-6, Liability Assessment Introduction This chapter describes
      liability assessment for qualifying, underwriting, and documentation purposes.'
  judgment: false
