Fannie Mae Introduces No Fee for Property Inspection Waivers Beginning January 1, 2017.

 In response to customer feedback, Fannie Mae will no longer charge a fee to exercise a Property Inspection Waiver (PIW), effective January 1, 2017. This change will make it even simpler and more cost-effective for you to do business with us. The process for accepting a PIW offer will not change – you will be required to provide special feature code (SFC) 801 at the time of loan delivery – but the $75 fee will no longer apply.


As a reminder, PIWs will be enhanced in Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) during the weekend of December 10, 2016, providing Day 1 Certainty™ with freedom from representations and warranties on eligible refinance transactions. If you haven’t already, check out our Property Inspection Waiver webpage to learn more about enhanced PIWs.


Discontinuance of the fee applies to all loans delivered with SFC 801 on or after January 1, whether the PIW offer was issued before or after the DU update.


When a DU casefile receives a PIW offer and it is exercised, Fannie Mae accepts the value estimate submitted as the market value for the subject property and provides relief from enforcement of representations and warranties on the value, condition, and marketability of the property. You are required to represent and warrant that the data (other than the value estimate) submitted to DU is complete and accurate, and must order an appraisal if you have reason to believe that the property’s current market value should be confirmed. For example, a property located in an area impacted by a recent disaster should always have an appraisal.


If you close any loans with accepted PIWs prior to January 1 but deliver them to Fannie Mae on or after January 1, consider whether there is any impact to borrower Closing Disclosures (if the current $75 fee is considered as a settlement charge disclosed on the Closing Disclosure).


DU Refi Plus loans are eligible for PIW offers, and will also no longer have a fee.  

Refer to the Fannie Mae Selling Guide for detailed PIW requirements. The Selling Guide will be updated December 6, 2016 to remove references to the fee.

• For more information or any questions, please contact Tammy Trefny.