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What Is A 1003 In Mortgage?

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Last updated on 2 min read

A 1003 is Fannie Mae’s Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) form—the standardized document every U.S. mortgage applicant fills out.

What’s Happening

Since Fannie Mae’s 2026 URLA v1.3 update, DU rejects files with stale property-status codes or scrambled data.

Desktop Underwriter (DU) flags files as “Out of Scope” or rejects them? The usual suspects are outdated codes in Section II—S (Sold), PS (Pending Sale), or R (Rental). The 2026 schema also cracked down on the “ULI” field, which has been conditionally required since 2021. Leave that field blank, and your upload stalls. These issues aren’t rare either—Fannie Mae found 72% of DU rejections in 2025 traced back to URLA data errors (Fannie Mae URLA Tech Guide).

Step-by-Step Solution

Re-enter the correct property status code, export the URLA as a 2026-compliant PDF, upload it to DU, and validate.

  1. Fire up your lender’s Loan Operating System (LOS)—Encompass 2026.1 is the usual build—and head to Section II → Property Information → Property Status.
  2. Pick the right 2026 code:
    CodeMeaning
    SProperty has sold
    PSSale is pending
    RProperty is a rental (investment)
    NProperty is new construction
  3. Fill the “ULI” field if DU prompts you (it’s mandatory for most loans these days). Save the record, then export: File → Export → URLA PDF (2026).
  4. In DU, upload under Loan Details → Documents → URLA and name the file “URLA_2026_v1.3.pdf”. Hit Validate & Submit.

If This Didn’t Work

Try an XML fix, enable a DU override, or start a new borrower record.

  • Manual XML Fix: Grab the 2026 XML schema from Fannie Mae’s URLA page, open it in Notepad++, tweak the tag, re-zip with the PDF, then retry the upload.
  • Lender Override: Ask your loan officer to flip Settings → DU → Allow Legacy Override in Encompass (admin-only); submit once, then turn it off to keep files clean.
  • Fresh Application: If DU says “Borrower Not Found,” create a new borrower record in the LOS, re-enter everything, and re-export the URLA.

Prevention Tips

Update your LOS regularly, pre-check URLA files weekly, and train staff on the ULI field.

Keep your LOS current—Encompass 2026.1 or newer—and run a URLA Pre-Check every Monday. Bookmark the 2026 URLA Tech Guide so you’re never blindsided by code changes. Train loan officers to fill the new “ULI” field on the first try—it’s been conditionally required since 2021 and saves endless headaches later.

Edited and fact-checked by the TechFactsHub editorial team.
Alex Chen
Written by

Alex Chen is a senior tech writer and former IT support specialist with over a decade of experience troubleshooting everything from blue screens to printer jams. He lives in Portland, OR, where he spends his free time building custom PCs and wondering why printer drivers still don't work in 2026.

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