Fannie Mae releases final versions of new appraisal forms, requires them as of November 1

Fannie Mae released the final versions of its revised appraisal forms Thursday, after two rounds of proposed revisions released last summer and last November. Our forms programmers are burning the midnight oil to get the new forms pushed out to WinTOTAL form filling software users – for free, as part of your support membership – as soon as possible. Look for the URAR next week.

Fannie's announcement introducing the final new forms can be found here. The announcement includes a link to the new forms. Here are some of the biggies: 1004, 2055, 1004D, 1073, 1004C.

Fannie said it "received hundreds of comments on how to further improve the quality of those forms" after the November release. "We would like to thank the many lenders, appraisers, and organizations that took the time to share their significant recommendations with us."

The new forms will not be mandatory until November 1, 2005. Either the previous iterations of the Fannie forms or the new ones may be used until that date.

Fannie Mae said it is especially concerned that appraisers report the following information on the new forms:

	Whether the subject property is currently offered for sale or if it was offered for sale in the 12 months prior to the effective date of the appraisal;
	That you analyzed the contract for sale for the subject property for a purchase money transaction;
	Whether the subject property has any adverse physical deficiencies or conditions such as (but not limited to) needed repairs, and whether such conditions affect the livability, soundness, or structural integrity of the property;
	That the subject property generally conforms to the neighborhood;
	That you researched, analyzed and reported on the sale (or transfer) history for the subject property and comparable sales.

One very positive change to the Intended Use and User sections: The Intended Use of the report as noted on the new 1004 specifies that the report is to be used by your client to evaluate the property for a mortgage finance transaction. Those five words did not appear in the last version of the forms. They make it clear that your transmission of the report is intended and authorized to be used in your client's lending decision and related to that loan only.