What UAD 3.6 changes in the appraiser's workflow

What is UAD 3.6?

UAD 3.6 is the redesigned Uniform Appraisal Dataset that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use for appraisal reports submitted to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), delivered through a redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR).

Freddie Mac describes it as an update that aligns the dataset with the MISMO Reference Model. It replaces every existing GSE appraisal form with one report that covers all property types. The retired forms include the 1004, 1073, 1025, 2055 and 1004D.

When does it become mandatory?

UAD 3.6 is mandatory for new appraisal reports submitted to UCDP on or after November 2, 2026.

The agencies' joint timeline sets a broad production period from January 26 to November 1, 2026. During it, lenders can submit either UAD 2.6 or UAD 3.6. UAD 2.6 retires on May 3, 2027, once its pipeline clears.

The date that counts is the initial UCDP submission date, not the effective date of the appraisal and not the loan application date. Freddie Mac's FAQ says a UAD 2.6 report submitted on or after the mandate returns a Fatal message and a Not Successful result. Revisions to a UAD 2.6 report that was first submitted before the mandate can stay in UAD 2.6 through the retirement date.

So a report finished in the old format in late October can still be refused if the lender submits it after the cutover. The timeline says that report would then need converting to UAD 3.6.

What changes at the desk?

The property data now drives the report, instead of the appraiser choosing a form and filling its boxes.

Under the redesign, the description of the subject, its property type and the scope of the assignment decide which sections appear. Freddie Mac's FAQ confirms the structure supports traditional, hybrid, desktop and exterior assignments. Four habits change with it:

• No General Addendum. Commentary fields sit inside each section of the URAR. Addendum templates need splitting into notes for each section.
• Update and completion become two reports. The Restricted Appraisal Update Report and the Completion Report are separate, each submitted in UAD 3.6 and linked to an existing UAD 3.6 URAR. UCDP does not accept mixed 2.6 and 3.6 files under one Document File ID.
• Market rent moves inside the report. In most cases the rent estimate is made in the URAR's Rental Information section, not on a separate 1007.
• Ratings get new definitions. The condition and quality scale is unchanged, but the definitions were rewritten, separate interior and exterior ratings were added, and the ratings now apply to manufactured homes.

Where does automation help, and where does it need watching?

Automation helps with structure and needs watching wherever it fills a field the appraiser has not looked at.

A dataset made of discrete fields is easier for software to populate from assessor records, prior reports and MLS exports. That is the benefit and the exposure: an imported value is still a statement the appraiser signs. The page on checking imported data covers the fields to check most carefully.

Freddie Mac's FAQ notes that appraisers can run the UAD compliance rules through their software provider using the agencies' compliance API. Those rules test completeness, format and reasonableness. They do not include Collateral Underwriter or Loan Collateral Advisor findings, so a clean compliance result says the file is well formed, not that the analysis is sound.

What can an office check before November 2?

The simplest check is whether each appraiser has already produced a few complete UAD 3.6 reports in the office's own software.

• Confirm with the software vendor that UAD 3.6 output is live for the office's account, not only in a test environment.
• Complete the GSE training for appraisers that Freddie Mac says is offered through appraisal education providers.
• Read the engagement letter on each October order. Freddie Mac's FAQ says it should state UAD 2.6 or UAD 3.6, and that the appraiser should ask the client when it does not.