source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-b3-3.1-04
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-04 — Verbal Verification of Employment
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-04 — Verbal Verification of Employment.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-b3-3.1-04-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-b3-3.1-04-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-04 — Verbal Verification of Employment
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.1-04 — Verbal Verification of Employment
    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: 'B3-3.1-04, Verbal Veriﬁcation of Employment (03/04/2026) A verbal
      veriﬁcation of employment (verbal VOE) must be obtained for each borrower using
      employment or self- employment income to qualify. The verbal VOE must be obtained
      within 10 business days prior to the note date for employment income, and within
      120 calendar days prior to the note date for self-employment income. The verbal
      VOE requirement is intended to help the lender mitigate risk by conﬁrming, as
      late in the process as possible, that the borrower remains employed as disclosed
      on the loan application. A change in the borrower’s employment status could
      have a signiﬁcant impact on that borrower’s capacity to repay the mortgage loan
      and Published May 6, 2026 307 must be fully reevaluated. Alternatively, the
      lender may obtain the verbal VOE after closing, up to the time of loan delivery.
      If the verbal VOE (or allowable alternative) cannot be obtained prior to delivery,
      the loan is ineligible for sale to Fannie Mae. The following table describes
      the requirements for a verbal VOE and allowable alternatives. Published May
      6, 2026 308 Type of Income Requirements Hourly, Salary, and Commission Income
      (Non- Military) Verbal Veriﬁcation of Employment: • The lender must independently
      obtain a phone number and, if possible, an address for the borrower''s employer.
      This can be accomplished by using a telephone book, the Internet, directory
      assistance, or by contacting the applicable licensing bureau. • The lender must
      contact the employer verbally and conﬁrm the borrower''s current employment
      status within 10 business days prior to the note date. Note: If the employer
      conﬁrms the borrower is currently on temporary leave, the lender must consider
      the borrower “employed.” See B3-3.3-09, Temporary Leave Income , for details
      on temporary leave. • The conversation must be documented. It should include
      the following: ⚬ name and title of the person who conﬁrmed the employment for
      the lender, ⚬ name and title of the person who completed the veriﬁcation for
      the employer, ⚬ date of the call, and ⚬ the source of the phone number. Alternative
      Methods to Verify Employment: • The lender can obtain a written veriﬁcation
      conﬁrming the borrower’s current employment status within 10 business days prior
      to the note date. The written documentation must include the name and title
      of the person who completed the veriﬁcation for the employer. • The lender can
      obtain an email exchange with the borrower''s employer from the employer''s
      work email address within 10 business days prior to the note date. ⚬ The lender
      must conduct additional due diligence to conﬁrm that the email address for the
      employer is accurate. Examples of due diligence include, but are not limited
      to, searches of domain name on employer website (review for match to employer
      email address), employer directory on the internet, or other professional networking
      or business proﬁle websites. ⚬ The email exchange must include borrower''s name
      and employer''s name; name, title, and work email address of the individual
      contacted at the employer; date of contact; and borrower''s current employment
      status. • Within 15 business days prior to the note date, the borrower can provide
      either ⚬ the most recent paystub as of that date that, meets the requirements
      in B3-3.2-01, Standards for Employment and Income Documentation; reﬂects information
      for the most recent expected pay period based on the date it is provided and
      the borrower''s pay cadence; and does not include any information indicating
      the borrower may not be actively employed. • Bank statements dated no earlier
      than 15 business days prior to the note date that ⚬ meet the requirements in
      B3-4.2-01, Veriﬁcation of Deposits and Assets, ⚬ reﬂects information for the
      most recent expected pay period based on the date of the statement and the borrower''s
      pay cadence, and ⚬ does not include any information indicating the borrower
      may not be actively employed. • If the borrower is a union member who works
      in an occupation that results in a series of short-term job assignments (such
      as a skilled construction worker, longshoreman, or stagehand), and the union
      facilitates the borrower’s placement in each assignment, the lender may obtain
      the verbal VOE from the union. • If the employer uses a third-party employment
      veriﬁcation vendor, the lender must obtain written veriﬁcation from the vendor
      of the borrower’s current employment status within the same time frame as the
      verbal VOE requirements. Note: Because third-party vendor databases are typically
      updated monthly, the veriﬁcation must evidence that the information in the vendor''s
      database was no more than 35 days old as of the note date. When employment is
      validated by DU, DU includes in its assessment the age of the information in
      the vendor’s database. The DU message will include a date by which the loan
      must close. This may diﬀer from the age of data and 10 business day requirements
      above. Compliance with the DU message satisﬁes the requirement for completing
      the veriﬁcation of employment. See B3-2-02, DU Validation Service. When employment
      is initially validated by the DU validation service using an asset veriﬁcation
      report, but the loan will not close by the "Close by Date" stated in the validation
      message, an alternative method of reverifying employment is permitted using
      a supplemental asset report. See B3-2-02, DU Validation Service for additional
      information. Published May 6, 2026 309 Type of Income Requirements Military
      Personnel If the borrower is in the military, in lieu of a verbal or written
      VOE, the lender must obtain either • a military Leave and Earnings Statement
      dated within 120 calendar days prior to the note date, or • a veriﬁcation of
      employment through the Defense Manpower Data Center. See E-1-02, List of Contacts
      for additional information. Self-Employed Income The lender must: • verify the
      existence of the borrower''s business within 120 calendar days prior to the
      note date ⚬ from a third party, such as a CPA, regulatory agency, or the applicable
      licensing bureau, if possible; or ⚬ by verifying a phone listing and address
      for the borrower''s business using a telephone book, the internet, or directory
      assistance. • document the source of the information obtained and the name and
      title of the lender''s employee who obtained the information. Recent Related
      Announcements The table below provides reference to recently issued Announcements
      related to this topic. Announcements Issue Date Announcement SEL-2026-02 March
      04, 2026 Section B3-3.2, Requirements for Employment-Related Income'
  judgment: false
