A home appraiser willing to enter a stranger’s house during the coronavirus pandemic has become a rare commodity in Massachusetts.

New guidance from federal bank regulators and Fannie Mae includes no changes on a key issue bedeviling the state’s real estate appraisers and mortgage lenders.

Industry standards for mortgages sold on the secondary market have effectively prevented any refinance mortgage being closed without an interior inspection of the home in question. However, many home appraisers are unwilling to enter homes due to coronavirus fears – and many applicants are unwilling to receive them – leaving banks with clogged loan pipelines and worried about rising fallout rates for loans in process.

The interim final rule on appraisals and other mortgage matters released by the FDIC, OCC and Federal Reserve yesterday evening lets banks, but not mortgage companies, hold off on appraisals on federally-related transactions for up to 120 days. However, this change only applies to loans a bank will keep in its own portfolio, about 10 percent of all mortgages overall.

An updated Fannie Mae letter to lenders also released Tuesday holds firm on the requirement that only Fannie Mae-owned, limited cash-out refinance loans being sold to Fannie Mae
and purchase transactions are eligible to be completed with exterior or desktop inspections.