In Mortgagee Letter 2022-14 , dated August 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) requirement for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lenders and mortgagees, and applicants for FHA approval.  The requirement must be implemented no later than December 31, 2022.

Existing FHA lenders and mortgagees under Title I or Title II  will need to provide a UEI as part of their institution data in the Lender Electronic Assessment Portal (LEAP), and applicants for FHA approval under such Titles will need to provide a UEI in their application. 

In the Mortgagee Letter, HUD explains that the “General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that all entities currently conducting or seeking to do business with the federal government must have a UEI registered in GSA’s System of Award Management (SAM.gov). The UEI is an alpha-numeric identifier used by federal government agencies to maintain consistent name and address data about non-federal entities doing business with the government.”

The Mortgagee Letter contains a link to a government website for entities to obtain more information on UEIs and to register for a UEI. 

HUD will accept feedback on the new requirement for 30 days from the date of the Mortgagee Letter