Fannie Mae's October Guide Update Loosens Verbal VOE Methods and Expands Attorney Opinion Letters

Why this matters: These are lender rules, but borrowers feel them through the documents they are asked for and how quickly a file clears. Most changes apply now. One K-1 income rule applies to applications dated on or after December 2.

Cover: a tabbed guide binder, a verification phone and a secure tablet form. Illustration created for mortgage.news; it does not depict a real person, property or document.

What Fannie Mae published

Fannie Mae issued Selling Guide Announcement SEL-2026-09 on Wednesday, October 7. The full announcement lists four groups of changes.

Verbal verification of employment

Fannie Mae removed the specific methods lenders had to use for the verbal verification of employment, often called a VVOE. Lenders may now use a method that is "reasonable, verifiable, and appropriate" for the borrower's job or income type. The timing requirements did not change. This is effective immediately.

Separately, for loan applications dated on or after December 2, 2026, lenders must complete a VVOE when a borrower uses Schedule K-1 income from a business they own less than 25% of. A VVOE is not required when rental income is the only income on the K-1.

Income rules

• Income with a set end date must be expected to continue at least three years from the application date, instead of the note date.
• Acceptance of a job offer can be shown with a signed agreement, a written confirmation such as email, or other verifiable means.
• There is added guidance for annuity, pension and retirement income that begins after closing but before the first payment.

Attorney opinion letters and wire instructions

Fannie Mae removed three limits on attorney opinion letters, which some lenders use in place of a title insurance policy. Letters no longer need to be commonly accepted by private investors in the local market, and Texas Section 50(a)(6) loans and loans signed under a power of attorney are no longer excluded.

Fannie Mae also clarified that a tenant right of first refusal created by statute or local ordinance does not make a loan ineligible. Sellers now manage wire instructions in a self-service application that replaces the PDF Form 482 process, and Form 360 was retired.

The takeaway

• Salaried borrowers may see more flexible employment checks, but the timing still matters.
• Partners with small K-1 stakes should expect an employment verification on applications from December 2.
• Your lender may apply its own stricter rules. Ask which documents it needs.