"The FHA Appraisal Missed Something. How Does a Reconsideration of Value Work, and Who Pays?"

The appraisal report lands in your inbox on a Thursday night, and you read it at the kitchen counter with your agent on speaker. The value came in below your contract price. Then you notice the sales the appraiser used, and the one you both expected to see is missing: the home two streets over, same floor plan, that closed the week before the appraiser walked through yours.

On an FHA loan, the underwriter can ask the appraiser for a reconsideration of value when the report left out information that was relevant on the day the appraiser inspected the home. The request goes through your lender, and the appraiser decides whether the value changes. If the appraiser charges for the extra review because of missing information that was not your fault, you are not responsible for that cost.

I'm Jeff Moran, a mortgage broker in Bluffton, South Carolina, originating since 1996, licensed in fifteen states, NMLS #483943, through C2 Financial Corporation. A missing sale or a wrong square footage on an appraisal is something we can put in front of the underwriter in an organized way, and this article walks you through how that works on an FHA loan.

If you want the bigger picture first, the guide to how a home appraisal is produced explains comparable sales and adjustments. The article on what to do when the appraisal came in low walks through how a lower value changes your loan amount and your cash. This one stays on the FHA review itself.

What does the FHA handbook say about a reconsideration of value?

FHA's rules live in HUD's Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, called 4000.1. The section on reconsideration of value is part of II.A.3.a, revised June 27, 2025, and HUD's handbook says it in five sentences that are worth reading word for word:

"The underwriter may request a reconsideration of value when the Appraiser did not consider information that was relevant on the effective date of the appraisal. The underwriter must provide the Appraiser with all relevant data that is necessary for a reconsideration of value."

"The Appraiser may charge an additional fee if the relevant data was not available on the effective date of the appraisal. If the unavailability of data is not the fault of the [client], the [client] must not be held responsible for the additional costs. The effective date of the appraisal is the date the Appraiser inspected the Property."

Read together, those sentences tell you three things. Something has to have been missed that mattered on a specific date. The underwriter sends it to the appraiser with the supporting information attached. And there is one named situation where an extra fee can come up, with a plain statement about when that fee is not yours to pay.

You may have read about a separate FHA process for a request you start yourself. A mortgagee letter is an official notice HUD sends to FHA lenders, and Mortgagee Letter 2024-07 set up that process in 2024. HUD rescinded it in Mortgagee Letter 2025-08 on March 19, 2025, and restored the earlier language. The handbook text above is the current rule, so in practice you bring what was missed to your lender and the underwriter decides whether to send it to the appraiser. Your lender can tell you how it takes these requests.

The date that matters is the day of the inspection

The appraisal report carries more than one date. There is the day the appraiser visited the home and the day the report was signed and sent, and those can be several days apart. HUD settles which one counts: "The effective date of the appraisal is the date the Appraiser inspected the Property."

That date frames everything you send. The handbook's test is information that was relevant on that day. A sale that closed before the appraiser walked through your home fits that wording, while one that closed the week after the report arrived falls outside it.

Before you gather anything, you'll want the effective date from the report written at the top of your notes. Your agent can then check each sale you are thinking about against that date before it goes into the request.

Information an FHA appraiser can be asked to reconsider

The handbook doesn't hand you a list, so the practical test is whether the appraiser had something wrong or left something out that a reasonable review would want to know. On a purchase, it usually falls into two groups.

Facts about the home itself. The report might show the wrong number of bedrooms or bathrooms, the wrong living area, or an older roof than the one the seller replaced. Records that support the correct fact are what the underwriter can pass along: the permit for the addition, the invoice for the roof, or the floor plan from the builder.

Sales the appraiser did not use. These are closed sales of comparable homes nearby that were relevant on the inspection date. Your agent can print the closing details for each one. The appraisal guide explains why closed, similar, nearby and recent sales are what move an appraiser, and why listings and asking prices usually don't.

The underwriter can pass along a specific fact with the record behind it, such as a report that lists three bedrooms on a home with four, along with the county record that shows four.

The path your request takes to the appraiser

You start it by asking your lender. The underwriter reviews what you sent, and when the underwriter agrees it is relevant, the underwriter sends it to the appraiser along with "all relevant data that is necessary," in HUD's words. The appraiser then reviews it and issues a response.

FHA's rules in section II.A.1.b of the handbook keep anyone paid on commission from "having substantive communications with an Appraiser relating to or having an impact on valuation." That separation protects the appraiser's independence.

The same section says "The Mortgagee may not discuss the contents of an appraisal with anyone other than the [client]." In plain terms, the lender talks with you about the report. You are welcome to share your copy with your agent, and your agent is often the best person to pull the sales. The conversation with the lender about what the appraisal says is yours.

Who pays the appraiser's fee for an FHA reconsideration of value

The handbook names one situation where the appraiser "may charge an additional fee": when the relevant data was not available on the effective date of the appraisal.

Picture a sale that closed a few days before the inspection, before it appeared in the records the appraiser could reach. The information was relevant on the inspection date, and the appraiser had no way to see it yet. That is the situation where an extra fee can come up.

Even then, HUD is direct about who carries it: "If the unavailability of data is not the fault of the [client], the [client] must not be held responsible for the additional costs." In that example, the delay came from the public records rather than from anything you did.

If your lender's paperwork mentions a fee for the review, please ask for the reason in writing so we can compare it with that sentence before you agree to anything.

A reconsideration and your contract dates run on separate clocks

A reconsideration is a request for the appraiser to look at information. The appraiser decides whether that information changes the value, and the answer can be yes, no, or a smaller change than you hoped for. It also isn't a formal appeal with a hearing, and nothing about it guarantees a particular number.

The request also doesn't move any date in your purchase contract. Your appraisal contingency and financing contingency deadlines come from the contract, and they keep running while the appraiser reviews. The article on keeping the financing contingency, the appraisal and the closing date on the same clock walks through how to line those up with your agent.

If the deadline is close, your agent can ask the seller about an extension while the review is underway, and you will have the time to decide calmly if the value stays where it is.

Preparing an FHA reconsideration of value, step by step

1. You start with the complete appraisal report. Please look at every page, including the comparable sales grid, the photos and the comments. If you don't have the full report yet, please ask your lender for it.
2. You find the effective date. That is the inspection date, and the handbook measures the request against it, so please check each sale's closing date against that day.
3. You list what you believe was missed. It helps the underwriter when each item is one or two sentences: what the report says, what is correct, and where the correct information comes from.
4. You gather the support for each item. That might be closing details from your agent for each sale, a permit, a contractor's invoice or a county property record.
5. You submit it through your lender's process. Please ask how long the review usually takes and whether there is a limit on how many sales you can include.
6. You talk with your agent about your contract dates the same day. The review and your deadlines need to be handled together.

If the appraiser also called for repairs as a condition of the FHA loan, that is a separate item from the value. The article on who calls for repairs, the appraiser or the inspector explains how those requests work.

Common mistakes with an FHA reconsideration

Sending opinions instead of information. The underwriter needs facts the appraiser can check, so a letter about how much you love the home doesn't give the appraiser anything to weigh.

Submitting sales that closed after the inspection. The handbook ties the review to the effective date, so a later sale is unlikely to fit what HUD describes.

Asking your agent to call the appraiser. The request goes through your lender and the underwriter, which is the path HUD's handbook describes, and that path is what gets your information in front of the appraiser.

Waiting for the answer before talking about your contract. The contingency deadline doesn't pause, so the conversation about dates belongs on the same day the request goes in.

Assuming you will be charged. Please read the fee sentence in HUD's handbook before you accept a charge.

An illustration

The details here are invented to show how the pieces fit together. They are not a real client, a real appraisal or a promised outcome.

You are buying a four-bedroom home with an FHA loan. The appraiser inspected on a Tuesday, the report arrived Friday, and the value came in below your contract price. Your agent notices two things that weekend. The report lists the home as three bedrooms, and a nearly identical home on the next street closed the Friday before the inspection but wasn't in the public records yet when the appraiser did the research.

On Monday you send your lender a one-page request with the county record showing four bedrooms and your agent's closing details for that sale. The underwriter agrees both items are relevant and sends them to the appraiser. Your agent asks the seller for a short extension on the appraisal contingency the same afternoon.

The appraiser corrects the bedroom count, adds the sale, and revises the value. The appraiser charges an additional fee for the extra work, because that sale wasn't available on the inspection date. Under HUD's sentence on fault, that cost isn't passed to you. In a different version of this story, the appraiser reviews the same information and leaves the value where it was, and you and your agent move on to the options in the low-appraisal article with time still on the clock.

Your next step

If you are under contract with an FHA loan and the appraisal left something out, please send me the complete appraisal report and your contract dates. I'm Jeff Moran, a mortgage broker in Bluffton, South Carolina, and we can sort out together whether there is something worth putting in front of the underwriter. If you are still early in the process, the FHA loan explainer covers how the program works before you ever get to an appraisal.

Common questions

Can I ask for a reconsideration of value on an FHA appraisal?

Yes, through your lender. HUD's handbook lets the underwriter request one when the appraiser did not consider information that was relevant on the effective date of the appraisal. You bring the missing information to your lender, and the underwriter decides whether to send it to the appraiser. The 2024 process for a request you start yourself, Mortgagee Letter 2024-07, was rescinded by HUD in March 2025.

Who pays for an FHA reconsideration of value?

HUD's handbook says the appraiser may charge an additional fee when the relevant data was not available on the effective date of the appraisal. It also says that if the data being unavailable was not your fault, you must not be held responsible for the additional costs. If a fee shows up, please ask your lender for the reason in writing.

What is the effective date of an FHA appraisal?

HUD's handbook defines it as the date the appraiser inspected the property. It is often earlier than the date the report was signed or delivered, and it is the date your reconsideration request is measured against.

Can my real estate agent talk to the lender about my FHA appraisal?

HUD's handbook says the lender may not discuss the contents of an appraisal with anyone other than you, the client on the loan. You can share your copy with your agent, and your agent can help you gather comparable sales, but the conversation with the lender about the report is yours.

Does a reconsideration of value extend my appraisal contingency?

No. The deadlines in your purchase contract keep running while the appraiser reviews the request. If the review may take longer than the time you have left, please talk with your agent about asking the seller for an extension in writing.

Estimates and educational information are not a loan approval or commitment to lend.