A DU asset-validation result can remove the need to document a large deposit while leaving gift documentation required. Fannie Mae addresses those situations separately in its DU Validation Service guide.
For a purchase transaction with validated assets, DU identifies large deposits that need documentation. If DU issues no such message, the guide says large-deposit documentation is unnecessary for deposits on the asset report. Its next provision requires deposited gift funds to meet the Personal Gifts requirements.
That distinction changes what a processor should request. A gift deposit does not automatically call for another bank statement, and the absence of a large-deposit message does not waive the gift requirements.
The gift letter still has a purpose
Fannie Mae requires a donor-signed letter identifying the actual or maximum gift amount, stating that repayment is not expected, and giving the donor's name, address, phone number and relationship to the borrower.
An account transaction can show money arriving. It cannot by itself supply the donor's signed statement about repayment or establish the donor relationship.
Transfer evidence has alternatives
The Personal Gifts guide requires verification that sufficient funds are in the donor's account or have been transferred to the borrower. Its examples include evidence of an electronic transfer from the donor's account to the borrower's account or closing agent, or a donor's check paired with the borrower's deposit slip. These are alternatives, not a request for every document listed.
For a gift already deposited, assess the available evidence against that requirement. Whether a particular asset report supplies enough transfer evidence depends on what it actually shows. Do not assume either that a separate donor statement is always needed or that validation always replaces it.
Funds delivered at settlement have their own transfer-documentation provision in the guide. Use that provision when the gift has not already reached the borrower.
Keep the question specific to the file
The lender must also apply the gift eligibility and borrower-contribution rules. Those details are in the linked Personal Gifts guide; this article covers the documentation interaction for deposited gifts on DU files, rather than eligibility across loan programs.
Read the current DU messages and lender instructions alongside those provisions. The useful question is which gift requirement remains unsupported, so the next request asks for evidence the file actually needs.
