What is UAD 3.6 and the new URAR appraisal form?

The short version for loan officers

UAD stands for Uniform Appraisal Dataset. It is the standard set of data fields an appraisal sends to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), the system lenders use to submit appraisals to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Version 3.6 replaces 2.6, the version appraisers have worked with for years.

The headline change: there are no more form numbers. Freddie Mac puts it this way: the data that describes the subject property drives the appraisal report, not a form type or number. One redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR) covers single-family homes, condos, 2–4 unit properties, manufactured homes and co-ops, and adapts to the property.

If you have spent fifteen years telling borrowers "the 1004 is ordered," you will need a new sentence. I suggest "the appraisal is ordered." It has fewer numbers and nobody asks what a 1004 is.

The dates you need to know

Two details trip people up. First, Freddie Mac ties the mandate to the initial UCDP submission date of the report. Second, loans with UAD 2.6 reports can still be sold to the GSEs after 2.6 is retired. If a lender cannot meet the mandate, it has to request a policy exception from each GSE involved.

If your pipeline has files that will first submit to UCDP on or after November 2, 2026, the old form is not coming to save you. It has retired to Florida.

Which forms are going away

Freddie Mac lists the legacy forms being retired and replaced. The ones loan officers see most:

• 1004 / 70: the standard single-family appraisal, plus its desktop and hybrid versions
• 1073 / 465: the condo appraisal, plus its desktop and hybrid versions
• 2055 and 1075: the exterior-only reports
• 1025 / 72: small residential income (2–4 units)
• 1004C: manufactured homes
• 2090 and 2095: co-ops
• 1004D / 442: the appraisal update and completion report

The 1004D gets a different fate. It splits into two separate reports: a Restricted Appraisal Update Report and a Completion Report. Each one has to be tied to an existing URAR submitted in the same UAD version. So when a construction file needs a final inspection, you order a Completion Report, not a "442."

What actually changes inside the report

Inspection type moves to the engagement letter. Under the old system, the form you ordered told everyone what kind of inspection happened. Now the client specifies the inspection level when it engages the appraiser: interior and exterior, exterior only, desktop or hybrid. Your order has to say what you want.

Condition and quality ratings get sharper. The C1 to C6 and Q1 to Q6 scales did not change, but the definitions were rewritten to make the lines between ratings clearer. The report adds separate interior and exterior ratings, and the ratings now apply to manufactured homes too.

Commentary moves into the sections. Instead of a long addendum at the back, comments go into fields inside each section. Reporting shifts toward standardized fields and choices. McKissock notes that highest and best use, market influences and reconciliation now call for a more narrative, evidence-supported approach.

Delivery changes. UAD 3.6 reports go to UCDP as ZIP files. There is also a UAD Compliance API that checks whether data is complete, valid and reasonable. It does not give you Collateral Underwriter scores or risk flags.

The sales comparison grid stays. It is generated to fit the property now, but it still has comps and adjustments. The spreadsheet lives on.

What does not change: adjustments still need proof

Some people hoped a new form would mean new rules for adjustments. It does not. McKissock sums it up: the expectation to support adjustments stays consistent with existing standards.

Fannie Mae's guide already says adjustments must reflect the market's reaction, and that a statement only saying an adjustment was made is not acceptable. Fannie Mae has no specific net or gross adjustment limits. Time adjustments, or the lack of them, must be supported by evidence.

This is the part I like. I have argued for years that adjustments should be measured from real sales, like paired sales and the wider market, not pulled from a rule of thumb. A report built on data fields makes thin support easier to spot. A rate typed into a field with nothing behind it looks lonely.

The best reports were already teaching the reader how the market works. UAD 3.6 pushes everyone in that direction. Appraisers who were showing their work will barely notice. Appraisers who were writing "adjustments based on experience" are about to meet an empty field that wants an explanation.

Your checklist for the switch

1. Update your order language. Ask for the inspection type you need. Do not order by form number.
2. Ask your AMC or appraisal desk if their platform is live on UAD 3.6. Find out how they handle files that straddle November 2.
3. Relearn the update path. Recertifications and final inspections are now a Restricted Appraisal Update Report or a Completion Report.
4. Expect a new-looking report. It is meant to resemble the URLA and the Closing Disclosure. Know where condition, market and reconciliation comments live before a borrower asks.
5. Brief your processors and underwriters. The fastest way to lose a week is a condition asking for a form that no longer exists.
6. Tell borrowers what has not changed. Value still comes from comparable sales and evidence. New layout, same job.