On September 2, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2026-12, introducing several updates that are effective immediately and may provide additional flexibility for mortgage sellers.

One notable change adds a written verification of employment (VOE) as eligible documentation for an automated income assessment used to determine eligibility for representation and warranty relief related to income calculation accuracy. Freddie Mac also expanded its automated assessment of self-employed income when tax transcripts are used.

Specifically, the Guide no longer prohibits using tax transcripts for self-employed income from a sole proprietorship reported on IRS Schedule C when other self-employed income is reported on additional tax schedules, such as Schedule E or Schedule F.

Updated Requirements for Manufactured Homes

The Bulletin also updates Freddie Mac's requirements for Mortgages secured by Manufactured Homes that have been moved from another site. Such homes are now eligible provided they have been inspected for structural integrity by a licensed professional engineer or appropriate local, state, or federal authority, with the inspection report retained in the Mortgage file.

The home also cannot be located in a more restrictive wind, roof-load, or thermal zone than the zone for which it was originally constructed.

Freddie Mac specifies that Mortgage proceeds cannot be used to pay for delivery and setup, permanent foundation anchoring, site development, or installation and permanent connections for utilities such as wells and septic systems. Sellers must also deliver ULDD Investor Feature Identifier value "K25" for these loans.

Guide Optimization Updates

Finally, Freddie Mac has continued its Guide optimization initiative, updating Sections 5103.1 through 5103.3 to improve organization, navigation, usability, and the overall user experience. Freddie Mac notes that these changes do not alter any requirements.

The Bulletin states that all substantive changes are effective immediately, although related technical updates for the written VOE are expected in the October Loan Product Advisor and Freddie Mac Income Calculator releases.

What Lenders Should Consider

Lenders should review their underwriting procedures, automated income-assessment workflows, and Manufactured Home eligibility processes to ensure their systems and documentation requirements reflect these changes.

We’re Here to Help

Understanding how evolving investor requirements affect existing compliance processes can require coordination across underwriting, operations, technology, and compliance teams.If you have questions about these Freddie Mac updates or how they may affect your organization, please connect with the Asurity team.

Source: Freddie Mac, Bulletin 2026-12