Some lenders can keep the old appraisal form until May. Ask which form your deal is on before you write it.

On November 2, appraisal reports submitted to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac move to a new format, the Uniform Appraisal Dataset 3.6, usually shortened to UAD 3.6. On September 30, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave lenders that are not ready a way to keep using the old format, UAD 2.6, for a few more months. The way out has conditions, and one of them starts on March 1, 2027.

This is a lender rule, not an agent rule. But it lands on your files: the appraisal date, the closing date, and the conversation with a buyer when something slips. Here is what changed and how to keep track of it.

What changed

The November 2 date did not move. National Mortgage News reports that the joint letter from the two companies says the requirement for compliance has not changed.

What is new is a one-time exception. According to the joint announcement and HousingWire’s report:

• Who can ask. Only lenders that sell loans directly to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They request it separately from each company they sell loans to. Lenders that do not sell loans directly to the enterprises are not required to request the exception. They have to align with their investors.
• How. National Mortgage News reports that a lender must apply, acknowledge it cannot meet the mandate, and agree to revised contract terms. It is not automatic.
• Old-form window. A lender with the exception can submit new UAD 2.6 appraisals from November 2, 2026 through May 19, 2027.
• The catch, from March 1, 2027. For old-form reports submitted from March 1 to May 19, the collateral risk score is 999 in Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter and 99 in Freddie Mac’s Loan Collateral Advisor. Those loans are not eligible for collateral representation and warranty relief for value.
• The end. From May 20, 2027, every new appraisal submission must be UAD 3.6. Previously delivered UAD 2.6 reports can be resubmitted through June 27, 2027.

Why an agent should care

You do not order the appraisal or choose the form. The lender does. But you build the timeline, and you are the one who explains a delay to a buyer or seller.

Two things follow. First, the lenders in your market may not all be on the same form at the same time, so the answer for one buyer may not hold for the next. Second, a deal that goes under contract in late winter on a lender’s old-form exception can have its appraisal land after March 1, when the loan secured by that report is not eligible for collateral representation and warranty relief for value. How each lender handles that is its call, and the only way to know is to ask.

None of this is lending advice. Loan terms, eligibility and appraisal requirements stay with the lender.

A date test for your pipeline

Run this on every financed deal you have open or expect to write before June. It takes a few minutes per file.

1. Write down three dates: contract date, expected appraisal delivery date, and closing date.
2. Ask the lender one question: will this appraisal be on UAD 3.6 or UAD 2.6?
3. Sort the file:
   • UAD 3.6: no exception question. Note it and move on.
   • UAD 2.6, delivered before November 2, 2026: the old form is still allowed. No exception is required.
   • UAD 2.6, delivered November 2, 2026 through February 28, 2027: allowed only if the company selling that loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac has the exception. Note it.
   • UAD 2.6, delivered March 1 to May 19, 2027: flag it. The score is fixed, and the loan is not eligible for collateral representation and warranty relief for value. Ask the lender whether the timeline changes.
   • UAD 2.6, delivered on or after May 20, 2027: that is not allowed for a new submission. Ask the lender what form it will use instead.
   • Lender does not know, or the loan is sold to an investor: flag it and ask again in two weeks.

A small worked example, using made-up files. Suppose a buyer goes under contract on February 10 with a lender that holds the exception, and the appraisal is expected around February 24. That file sits in the full window. Now push the contract to February 25 with the same lender: the appraisal likely lands after March 1, inside the reduced window. Same buyer, same lender, two weeks apart, and a different conversation.

What to do this week

• List the lenders who closed your last ten financed deals, and ask each one: are you on UAD 3.6 by November 2, or did you request the exception?
• Add an “appraisal form” field to your transaction checklist next to the appraisal order date.
• Put March 1 and May 19, 2027 on your calendar as review dates for every open file.
• For buyers you expect to write in February or March, note which lender they are using now, so the question is ready before the contract is.

If you want the date test built into your transaction coordination so it runs on every file without you remembering it, that is the kind of process a Build month covers. The form will change once. The habit of asking which one is in play is worth keeping.