Fannie, Freddie announce tenant protection plans for housing portfolios

Government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have released new resources for multifamily borrowers about new requirements for tenant protections in properties with mortgages backed by either company.

Originally announced in July, this policy change, effective Feb. 28, 2025, will require borrowers of all new GSE-backed loans to provide:

A 30-day written notice of any rent increases.
A 30-day written notice of lease expirations.
A minimum five-day grace period for late rent payments without fees or any other penalties.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have jointly published an information page on the new standards, along with an initial policy grid that outlines applicability, updates to loan documents, implementation requirements and monitoring and enforcement details. The GSEs will provide more information for lenders, borrowers and tenants closer to the effective date.

“The new Enterprise Multifamily Lease Standards align with our mission to expand access to housing that is both affordable and sustainable,” said Michele Evans, executive vice president and head of multifamily at Fannie Mae, in the organization’s release.

Exceptions to this requirement within the Fannie Mae portfolio include:

Manufactured housing properties, which fall under a separate tenant protection program.
Existing credit facilities, including loans funded through credit facility agreements from before Feb. 28, 2025.
Loans for cooperative housing corporations.
Loans originated using third-party form loan documents.

“Although many borrowers already exceed these minimum standards, all will be required to meet the standards to obtain GSE financing in the future,” said Kevin Palmer, head of multifamily for Freddie Mac, in the organization’s release. “The details we released today are intended to give lenders, borrowers and other market participants clearer expectations with regard to how we will implement, monitor and enforce the new requirement.”

Fannie Mae financed approximately 482,000 units of multifamily rental housing in 2023 alone, the majority of which were affordable to households earning at or below 120% of the area median income, according to the news release. Freddie Mac Multifamily financed more than 447,000 multifamily units, according to its annual report, with over 90% of its loans made for affordable housing.