Chapter 1: Appraiser Qualifications

It is essential that a lender obtain an independent, disinterested examination and valuation of the property that secures a mortgage it intends to sell to us; therefore, the lender must select the appraiser and order (and receive) the appraisal report for each mortgage transaction, rather than allowing the borrower or any other party who has an interest in the transaction (such as the property seller or the real estate broker) to do so.  The lender must not attempt to apply pressure or otherwise unduly influence the appraiser to reflect certain results in his or her analysis or reporting.  However, this does not mean that a lender cannot question the appraiser's findings or provide factual information (such as comparable market data) for further consideration by the appraiser.  This approach will assure that the appraiser will remain free of any outside influence in the valuation process.

We do not approve appraisers.  Therefore, when selecting an appraiser, a lender must not give any consideration to an appraiser's representation that he or she is approved or qualified by Fannie Mae.  Because a lender is solely accountable for the performance of the appraisers it selects, the lender must take appropriate steps to ensure that an appraiser is qualified to perform appraisals for the particular types of property and the property locations that it intends to refer to that appraiser.

If a lender chooses to rely on a specific appraiser or appraisal service to review the qualifications of -- or even to select -- an individual to perform appraisals for the lender, the lender should establish appropriate qualifications to ensure that acceptable individuals are selected.  We recommend that the lender require the appraiser or appraisal service that makes the selection to assume full responsibility for the quality of the appraisal.  However, imposing this responsibility on the appraiser or appraisal service will in no way relieve the lender of its warranties related to the appraisal or the condition of the property.