On October 23, 2019, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”) announced the publication of the updated redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (“URLA”) (Fannie Mae Form 1003 / Freddie Mac Form 65). Appendix 1 of the announcement provides a detailed description of changes that have been made to the Borrower Information, Additional Borrower Information, Lender Loan Information, Continuation Sheet and Unmarried Addendum documents.
According to the announcement, the GSEs are providing the static components of the updated form that include all the changes made to the form appearance. The changes, which were made at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, were previously outlined in an August 2019 announcement from the GSEs and include:
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Removal of The Language Preference question (Borrower Information, Section 1a.) and The Homeownership Education and Housing Counseling question (Lender Loan Information, Section L5.) Instead, this information will be collected on a separate “voluntary consumer information form” still to be developed for this purpose.
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The Acknowledgment and Agreements (Borrower Information, Section 6.) has been updated with new “Use and Sharing of Information” language and new Definitions for “Lender” and “Other Loan Participants.”
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The Military Service question has been moved from Borrower Information, Section 1a. to Section 7: Military Service. An additional line of instruction has also been added, which states, “This section asks questions about your (or your deceased spouse’s) military service.”
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Borrower Information sections have been renumbered. Demographic Information has been moved from Borrower Information, Section 7 to Section 8. Loan Originator Information has been moved from Borrower Information, Section 8 to a new Section 9.
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Other additional minor edits have been made throughout the URLA form, such as date formats and additional instructions.
The GSEs confirmed that the dynamic version of the redesigned URLA has been retired. The static version is being provided in advance of the publication of an additional interactive (fillable) PDF version which is expected to be available in early 2020, to allow the industry time to “scope additional work needed to implement the redesigned form.”
New dates for an implementation timeline and mandate are expected to be released by the end of the year, while the updated automated underwriting system specifications and supporting documents are expected to be published in November. DocMagic will continue to provide updates as further information becomes available.
To view the announcement, click here.
