source:
  type: guide
  id: fnma-sel-a2-4.1-01
  authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide A2-4.1-01 — Establishing Loan Files
  description: Fannie Mae Selling Guide A2-4.1-01 — Establishing Loan Files.
  coverage_tier: operative
obligations:
- id: fnma-sel-a2-4.1-01-full
  canonical_id: fnma-sel-a2-4.1-01-full
  section: Fannie Mae Selling Guide A2-4.1-01 — Establishing Loan Files
  type: do
  tags:
  - regulator-direct
  - fnma
  - selling-guide
  - corpus-expansion
  - tier-operative
  primary_source:
    tier: 1
    authority: Fannie Mae Selling Guide A2-4.1-01 — Establishing Loan Files
    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: 'A2-4.1-01, Establishing Loan Files (09/04/2024) Introduction
      This topic contains information on loan ﬁles, including: Establishing the Loan
      File Retention of Third-Party Asset Veriﬁcation Reports Establishing the Loan
      File for Manufactured Homes Additional Information for the Loan File Establishing
      the Loan File Published May 6, 2026 61 The seller must establish the individual
      mortgage loan ﬁle “loan ﬁle” when it originates a loan and clearly identiﬁes
      each ﬁle with Fannie Mae’s loan number (and Fannie Mae’s participation and participation
      percentage interest and MBS pool number, if applicable). The loan ﬁle consists
      of the loan origination ﬁle, the loan custodial ﬁle, and the loan servicing
      ﬁle held by the seller, servicer, or a prior servicer arising from or related
      to the origination, sale, securitization, or servicing of a loan or acquired
      property, as applicable. The loan ﬁle includes all records needed to service
      the loan and support the validity of the loan, and must be readily accessible
      in connection with the servicing of the loan. The loan origination ﬁle consists
      of the following: all documents, records and reports used to support the underwriting
      decision required by the Lender Contract; any documentation required by Fannie
      Mae or by law relating to the loan arising from or related to the origination,
      closing, sale, securitization, or delivery of a loan; and documents that are
      required as part of the post-closing mortgage loan ﬁle documentation requirements
      in the Selling Guide. The following tables describe the documents included in
      the loan origination ﬁle and whether an original or a copy is required. ✓ Original
      Documents any unrecorded documents changing the terms of the note the assignment
      to MERS®, if the loan is registered with MERS and MERS is not named as nominee
      for the beneﬁciary, and the copies of all required intervening assignments ✓
      Document Copies the recorded mortgage or deed of trust, any applicable recorded
      rider or recorded modiﬁcation or any other recorded document aﬀecting Fannie
      Mae’s right under the mortgage with the recording information from the recorder’s
      oﬃce the Participation Certiﬁcate, if applicable the related Schedule of Mortgages
      if an MBS loan the note and any related addenda all required intervening assignments
      Published May 6, 2026 62 ✓ Document Copies FHA mortgage insurance certiﬁcate,
      VA loan guaranty certiﬁcate, RD loan note guarantee certiﬁcate, HUD Indian loan
      guarantee certiﬁcate, or conventional mortgage insurance certiﬁcate, if applicable
      underwriting documents, including any DU reports third-party asset veriﬁcation
      report, in human-readable format (see below for additional information) property
      appraisal and inspection orders and reports title policy or an attorney title
      opinion letter, property insurance policy, ﬂood insurance policy (if required)
      and any other documents that might be of interest to a prospective purchaser
      or servicer of the loan or might be required to support title or insurance claims
      at some future date (for example, FEMA’s ﬂood hazard determination form, title
      evidence, or survey) ﬁnal settlement statement evidencing all settlement costs
      paid by the borrower and seller (if applicable), • the ﬁnal version of the Closing
      Disclosure does not have to be signed by the borrower and seller although lenders
      may obtain signatures, which Fannie Mae supports as a best practice; • if there
      are separate Closing Disclosures for the borrower and seller, the copies of
      the ﬁnal version of each must be kept in the mortgage loan ﬁle. any other documents,
      records, and reports not speciﬁed above that are part of the loan origination
      ﬁle. Retention of Third-Party Asset Veriﬁcation Reports An asset veriﬁcation
      report may be provided to DU for assessment for various purposes. Retention
      requirements will diﬀer depending on the purpose of the assessment. The following
      table provides diﬀerent examples of uses for asset veriﬁcation reports and what
      they must contain. Use of third-party asset veriﬁcation report The loan ﬁle
      must contain the report covering Asset validation through DU validation service
      The period of time (30- or 60- days) required for asset veriﬁcation for the
      transaction Published May 6, 2026 63 Use of third-party asset veriﬁcation report
      The loan ﬁle must contain the report covering Cash ﬂow assessment A minimum
      of • 30 days (limited cash-out reﬁnances); • 60 days (purchase transactions)
      Rent payment history A minimum of 60 days (purchase transactions) Income or
      employment validation using an asset veriﬁcation report • The full asset veriﬁcation
      report containing the entirety of the data submitted to DU, or • The greater
      of ⚬ the period of time (30- or 60 -days) required for asset veriﬁcation for
      the transaction, or ⚬ 30 -days if no asset documentation is required for the
      transaction When income or employment is validated using an asset veriﬁcation
      report and the full report containing the entirety of the data submitted to
      DU is not retained in the loan ﬁle, the lender must • have access to the full
      asset veriﬁcation report at the time of origination; • retain on-going access
      to the full asset veriﬁcation report. The report must be stored in accordance
      with A2-4.1-03, Electronic Records, Signatures, and Transactions and on-going
      access must be retained for a period of time that is no shorter than the retention
      period the lender maintains for all loan ﬁle documentation; and • have the ability
      to reproduce the full asset veriﬁcation report, if only stored electronically,
      in addition to the shorter history retained in the loan ﬁle. Employment revalidation
      using a supplemental asset report When employment is revalidated using a supplemental
      asset report, it must be retained in the loan ﬁle. Note: The above documentation
      requirements apply regardless of the number of months used by DU for assessment
      of income and employment validation, rent payment history, or cash ﬂow. See
      B3-2-03, Risk Factors Evaluated by DU for additional information. Establishing
      the Loan File for Manufactured Homes Servicers that have collateral documents
      for manufactured home loans with application dates prior to August 24, 2003
      must retain all such documents, but they are not required to obtain these documents
      if they do not already have possession of them. For a manufactured home with
      an application date on or after August 24, 2003, collateral documents include
      Published May 6, 2026 64 the following: ✔ Manufactured Home Collateral Documents
      documentation (if available) indicating that no certiﬁcate of title (or similar
      ownership document) was ever issued in states where a manufactured home can
      become real property without ﬁrst being titled as personal property; documentation
      evidencing surrender or retirement in states where the certiﬁcate of title (or
      similar ownership document) can be surrendered or retired when the home becomes
      real property; the certiﬁcate of title (or similar ownership document) if it
      has been or cannot be surrendered; any UCC ﬁnancing statement (or similar notice
      of lien) that was ﬁled pursuant to applicable law; and a security agreement
      that creates a lien on the manufactured home in addition to the loan or deed
      of trust. In order to be prepared to meet special servicing and default management
      requirements for loans secured by manufactured homes, the servicer must ensure
      that all loans secured by manufactured homes are identiﬁed on their internal
      systems. If it comes to the attention of the servicer that it is servicing a
      loan secured by a manufactured home that was delivered to Fannie Mae without
      notation of Special Feature Code 235 (which is required to identify that property
      type), the servicer must initiate a post-purchase adjustment. See Fannie Mae’s
      website for additional information. Additional Information for the Loan File
      The seller/servicer must use the loan origination ﬁle to accumulate other pertinent
      servicing and liquidation information, including, the following: property inspection
      reports, copies of delinquency repayment plans, copies of disclosures of ARM
      loan interest rate and payment changes, documents related to insurance loss
      settlements, and foreclosure notices. The loan custodial ﬁle consists of the
      custodial documents and all documents, books, records, and reports, in any format,
      required to be retained by the document custodian pursuant to the Servicing
      Guide or other Fannie Mae requirements. Published May 6, 2026 65 The loan servicing
      ﬁle (including the ﬁle maintained with respect to an acquired property) consists
      of all documents, books, records, reports, and payment and escrow histories,
      in any format, arising from or related to the servicing of the mortgage loan
      or acquired property by the current servicer or any prior servicer. This includes
      those required at any time by the Lender Contract or an insurer and documents
      and records set forth in the Servicing Guide. The loan servicing ﬁle must also
      include copies of all documents or records that are used to evaluate a borrower
      and the property condition when determining the eligibility for a workout option.
      Recent Related Announcements The table below provides reference to recently
      issued Announcements that are related to this topic. Announcement Issue Date
      Announcement SEL-2024-06 September 04, 2024 Announcement SEL-2024-02 March 06,
      2024 Announcement SEL-2023-01 February 01, 2023 Announcement SEL-2022-09 October
      05, 2022 Announcement SEL-2022-04 May 04, 2022 Announcement SEL-2022-03 April
      06, 2022'
  judgment: false
