Fannie Raises Lenders’ Net Worth Requirement Ten-Fold

Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.02 -0.97%) updated its eligibility requirements for lenders wanting to sell and service residential first mortgages, according to the new selling guide released Friday.

To do business with Fannie Mae, lenders must now have a net worth of at least $2.5m — 10 times the previous required net worth — plus a dollar amount equal to 0.25% of the outstanding principal balance of any Fannie Mae portfolio it services.

In the April 2009 version of the guidelines, lenders needed a net worth of at least $250,000 and an additional dollar amount equal to 0.20% of the portfolio.

The announcements also include updates from reverse mortgage lender letters Fannie Mae and announcements incorporated into the Selling Guide.

Fannie said most of the information was unintentionally omitted from the April 2009 Selling Guide, but was added to the October issue.

Within the next two months, Fannie Mae plans to issue another update to the Selling Guide that incorporates any outstanding announcements and those made between now and the time of the update.

Write to Jon Prior.