of federal housing authority (FHA) this week amended its 2022 requirement for mortgage lenders and anyone wishing to do business with FHA to obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) to qualify for such transactions. Announced the Mortgage Letter (ML).
ML 2024-09 updates the agency's UEI policy for FHA-approved lenders to streamline reporting requirements starting with the policy developed in summer 2022 and implemented by the end of the same year.
“In August 2022, FHA implemented the UEI Policy, which requires people doing or seeking to do business with the federal government to register, obtain, and maintain a UEI number with the federal government. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Award Management System (SAM.gov),” the notice reads. “FHA is implementing this government-wide requirement at the direction of GSA.”
GSA is a division of the United States government designed to help manage and support the basic functions of federal government agencies. In ML 2022-14, the original guidance outlined the need for UEI as a critical compliance measure.
“An active SAM.gov registration and UEI are essential for HUD to comply with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, as amended by the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014.[s] “Federal agencies must report data on federal awards tracked using the UEI,” the 2022 Mortgage Letter explains.
ML 2024-09 “amends FHA's eligibility requirements to remove geographic address of home office from data that must be the same in both the Lender Electronic Appraisal Portal (LEAP) and SAM.gov,” FHA explained. . “This change streamlines data reporting and supports lender compliance by reducing potentially conflicting information between the LEAP and SAM.gov platforms.”
The new provisions affect all FHA-approved lenders and other entities that wish to do business with FHA, such as mortgage underwriters, appraisal companies, housing counselors, and real estate brokers. The rule takes effect immediately.
All lenders and entities covered by this policy must review their SAM.gov registration annually and maintain a valid registration in the database on their website.
