Episode summary
Freddie Mac on the strategic shift of UAD 3.6
HousingWire Daily
· · 20 min · Hosts: Sarah Wheeler · Guests: Daniel Miller
Summary
Freddie Mac is framing UAD 3.6 as a broad appraisal modernization effort, not just a form change. Daniel Miller said the new uniform residential appraisal report was built from lender pain points identified years ago: slow reviews, hard-to-find information, and too much back-and-forth with appraisers. The new report standardizes data across property types, including co-ops, manufactured homes, and two- to four-unit properties, while adding more discrete fields that can support clearer review and more automated risk checks.
The immediate focus is implementation. Miller said November 2 is the cutoff for new appraisal submissions to UCDP, and new submissions after that date must be in UAD 3.6. Legacy UAD 2.6 files can still be resubmitted if they were already in process, but lenders need a clean pipeline and coordination with appraisers, AMCs, order management systems, and LOS vendors to avoid disruptions.
Miller argued the industry should start early because there is a learning curve, especially for appraisers and reviewers getting used to new software and a new file package. He said Freddie Mac has training, webinars, and other resources available, and that early adopters are already showing meaningful adoption across software providers, AMCs, lenders, and aggregators.
Key takeaways
- Daniel Miller said UAD 3.6 is meant to reduce review friction by replacing scattered narrative appraisals with one standardized, more data-rich report.
- Freddie Mac set November 2 as the cutoff for new UCDP submissions in UAD 3.6, while older UAD 2.6 files already in the system can still be resubmitted through May next year.
- Miller said the biggest operational risk is not the appraisal itself but the ecosystem shift, including software, order management, LOS integrations, and file transmission.
- He said early adopters are already processing UAD 3.6 across nine appraiser software firms, 10 order management systems, about a dozen LOS platforms, and more than 110 lenders.
- Miller said lenders should start with a small percentage of volume to work through the learning curve before the mandate hits 100% of production.
Notable quotes
“the new approach with U83.6 is there's one report uh the uniform residential appraisal report”
“on November 2nd uh any new appraisal report submitted to UCDP uh can only be in UAD 3.6”
“what it really means is that a lender needs to work with their appraisal providers uh and everyone else that may be part of their process”
“the ability to have a lot more of that in clear sections and clear comments that are directly tied to the data uh that it pertains to”
“It has really allowed us to speak with all of these various uh, parties. They're all supporting the lenders and make sure that they understand U83.6”
How the episode opens
Welcome everyone. My guest today is Daniel Miller, senior director provider strategy and distribution at Freddy Mack to talk about the new UAD 3.6 update and how Freddy Mack is helping lenders, appraisers, AMC's, and everyone else involved in the appraisal process understand this strategic shift. Daniel, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Thank you for being on. Such an important topic. Um so let's kind of start broad and you know for listeners who may not be living and breathing appraisal modernization every day. Um what is UAD 3.6 and why is it one of the most significant changes the mortgage industry has seen in years?
Great question. So, eight years ago, we went really all over the country on a road show to lenders to talk to lenders about what pain points do they see in the appraisal process. And we learned a lot of things.
We learned that the review process took too long, that uh they can't find particular things in the appraiser appraisal report that they need to to review. Um, and also the back and forth between the underwriter or other collateral reviewer and the appraiser uh was happening too often. And so we really went down this journey with U83.6 as uh the answer to some of those pain points in the process.
And I think as a result of proceeding with U83.6 uh some of what we uh some of what we ended up with is really more consistency. So, if you think about the number of appraisal forms that exist today, uh there's a lot of different numbers involved and Freddy Mack has our numbers, other investors have numbers um that may differ. It's a little confusing.
Uh and so the new approach with U83.6 is there's one report uh the uniform residential appraisal report.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- uad 3.6
- provider strategy
- lender workflow
- appraisal
- amc technology
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Freddie Mac
Watch the episode
Watch “Freddie Mac on the strategic shift of UAD 3.6” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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