The quick read: Yes, within windows. On agency multifamily refinances, Freddie Mac's early rate-lock typically runs 60 to 120 days until Freddie Mac buys the loan, and Fannie Mae's Multifamily Guide generally limits a fixed-rate lock to 180 days and an adjustable-rate lock at 45 days. Beyond the shortest windows you pay for time: Fannie Mae's minimum good faith deposit rises to 3% of the lock amount once a lock runs past 90 days, and a lock longer than 180 days needs Fannie Mae's consent. So match the lock to your payoff date and your current loan's prepayment schedule. Treasury's par yield curve put the 10-year at 5.13% on October 21, 2026, down from 5.31% on October 5. All yields here are as of October 21; check the current curve before you lock.
Which lock windows exist for a commercial refinance?
Agency refinances offer three lock windows, an index lock that fixes only the Treasury part of the rate, an early rate lock that fixes the full rate roughly 60 to 120 days before the loan is purchased, and a standard lock at commitment, and each trades a longer window for a deposit and breakage exposure.
Freddie Mac's lock options page describes standard delivery, early rate-lock and Index Lock, and its May 2025 Index Lock term sheet compares them. Fannie Mae's Multifamily Guide, Part IV, Chapter 2, sets its own limits. Outside the agencies, lock terms are set lender by lender, so ask each one for the window, deposit and breakage formula in writing.
| Lock term | Freddie Mac Index Lock | Freddie Mac early rate-lock | Freddie Mac standard delivery | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lock term What is locked | Freddie Mac Index Lock Treasury index only; spread set at full lock | Freddie Mac early rate-lock Full fixed rate, or the spread on a floating loan | Freddie Mac standard delivery Full fixed rate, or the spread on a floating loan | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock Full rate |
| Lock term Window | Freddie Mac Index Lock 60 days after quote expiration for most conventional loans | Freddie Mac early rate-lock Typically 60 to 120 days until Freddie Mac purchase | Freddie Mac standard delivery Typically 45 days until Freddie Mac purchase | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock Up to 180 days; 45 days for adjustable-rate loans |
| Lock term Good faith deposit | Freddie Mac Index Lock 2% | Freddie Mac early rate-lock 2%, adjusted for longer-term locks | Freddie Mac standard delivery Not required | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock 1% or 2% for 90 days or less; 3% for 91 to 180 days |
| Lock term Breakage if the loan does not deliver | Freddie Mac Index Lock 0.5% minimum, 3.0% maximum (fixed), except fraud or intentional misrepresentation/omission | Freddie Mac early rate-lock 0.5% to 3.0% (fixed); 1.0% (floating) | Freddie Mac standard delivery 0.5% to 3.0% (fixed); 1.0% (floating) | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock Trading desk trades: the minimum deposit |
| Lock term Freddie Mac approval time | Freddie Mac Index Lock 1 to 2 business days | Freddie Mac early rate-lock 2 to 5 business days | Freddie Mac standard delivery 2 to 3 weeks | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock Not stated |
| Lock term Who can use it | Freddie Mac Index Lock Borrowers with a Freddie Mac loan purchased in the last 24 months; some first-time borrowers | Freddie Mac early rate-lock Standard underwriting | Freddie Mac standard delivery Standard underwriting | Fannie Mae fixed-rate lock Eligible Fannie Mae loans |
Freddie Mac's Index Lock term sheet makes breakage uncapped for fraud or intentional misrepresentation or omission. The 3.0% maximum in the table does not apply in those cases.
Freddie Mac's fixed-rate loan sheet (dated 4/26) calls the Treasury index the most volatile part of the coupon. That is why the index lock exists: it lets a repeat borrower take the largest moving piece off the table first, then lock the spread at full lock. Fannie Mae's Guide also allows a Streamlined Rate Lock, which locks before full underwriting is complete, and caps its lock period at 180 days.
What does extra lock time cost?
Extra lock time costs a larger deposit and more breakage exposure, because Fannie Mae's Guide raises the minimum good faith deposit to 3% of the lock amount once a lock runs past 90 days, and Freddie Mac adjusts its 2% early rate-lock deposit for longer-term locks, while breakage on a fixed-rate Freddie Mac lock can reach 3.0%.
Fannie Mae's minimum deposit schedule is explicit:
Lock amount of $9 million or less, 90 days or less (Fannie Mae Guide): 1% of the lock amount
Lock amount over $9 million, 90 days or less (Fannie Mae Guide): 2%
Any amount, more than 90 and up to 180 days (Fannie Mae Guide): 3%
Any amount, more than 180 days, non-forward commitment (Fannie Mae Guide): the greater of 3% or the amount the Fannie Mae Deal Team approves
On an illustrative $20 million refinance, stretching a Fannie Mae lock from 90 to 120 days raises the minimum deposit from $400,000 to $600,000, and Freddie Mac's fixed-rate breakage range on the same loan runs from $100,000 to $600,000 (our arithmetic). Fannie Mae's Guide has the lender refund the deposit after the loan funds and Fannie Mae buys it, unless the deposit is applied to breakage.
Extensions cost money too. Fannie Mae's Guide says extending a Multifamily Trading Desk lock requires the desk's approval and agreement to pay any rate lock extension fee; an extension that takes the total past 90 days requires the additional deposit, and one that takes it past 180 days requires Deal Team approval first.
Time also has a price inside the rate. On October 21, 2026, Treasury's curve had the 1-year yield at 4.52% and the 10-year at 5.13%. When short-term yields sit below long-term yields, holding a long-term rate for months carries a cost, and a lender that hedges a forward lock builds that into price (our reading of the curve). Ask each lender to quote the same loan at two lock lengths so you can see the difference.
What if your current loan's open-prepay window starts later?
If your current loan's open-prepayment window starts after your new lock would expire, you either lock later or pay the prepayment premium to close early, because a lock protects a rate only through its own settlement date, and Freddie Mac's standard fixed-rate loans waive the prepayment premium only in their final 90 days.
Read your note before you pick a lock length. Freddie Mac's fixed-rate sheet describes yield maintenance until securitization, then a two-year lockout, then defeasance, with no prepayment premium for the final 90 days. Its floating-rate sheet offers four prepayment options, each with no premium for the last 90 days. Our guide to how commercial loan prepayment penalties work covers the formulas.
The arithmetic is a calendar exercise. Take an illustrative loan maturing December 31, 2027 with a 90-day open window: the window opens around October 2, 2027. A 180-day lock that settles that day could not be taken before about April 5, 2027 (our arithmetic). Lock earlier and the lock expires before you can prepay for free.
Fannie Mae has one built-in bridge for its own borrowers. Its Guide lets a lender lock a Choice Refinance Loan, a streamlined refinance of an existing Fannie Mae loan, up to 180 days before the old loan's Prepayment Premium Period End Date, the last date a premium is owed.
Your options when the windows do not line up:
- Close inside the open window and lock no earlier than the window allows
- Close early and pay the premium, if the rate protection is worth more than the premium on your numbers
- Lock the index first, if you qualify for an index lock, and the full rate later
- Ask your current lender what an early payoff costs today, in writing, so you are comparing real figures
Should a borrower with a 2027 maturity lock now?
A borrower whose loan matures in 2027 can lock now only if the closing date sits inside an available window, which for a fixed-rate Fannie Mae loan means 180 days or less without special consent, so for most 2027 maturities the work today is preparing the package so the lock can happen the day the window opens.
The rate risk a lock removes is easy to see on Treasury's own tape:
10-year Treasury par yield, August 3, 2026 (U.S. Treasury): 4.70%
10-year Treasury par yield, September 16, 2026 (U.S. Treasury): 5.01%
10-year Treasury par yield, October 5, 2026 (U.S. Treasury): 5.31%
10-year Treasury par yield, October 21, 2026 (U.S. Treasury): 5.13%
That is a 0.61-point rise between August 3 and October 5 (our arithmetic). We do not forecast where it goes next. What a move like that does to a refinance is measurable: on illustrative net operating income of $1.6 million and a 1.25x coverage test with 30-year amortization, a coupon of 6.00% supports about $17.79 million of loan, and a coupon of 6.61% supports about $16.68 million, roughly $1.1 million less (our arithmetic, assuming the coupon moves one-for-one with the index).
Use the time before the window to:
- Order the rent roll, trailing 12-month statement and property condition items so underwriting can start early
- Confirm your prepayment schedule and the first day you can pay off without a premium
- Ask lenders for their lock windows, deposits and extension terms in writing
- Decide whether extending the current loan beats refinancing; see whether to extend or refinance a maturing commercial loan
The rate-wait calculator shows what waiting costs on your own numbers.
How do you get a refinance placed with a lock that matches your payoff date?
You get a refinance placed with the right lock by giving lenders your payoff date, your prepayment schedule and a complete package early, so each one quotes the same loan with a lock window that settles on or after the day you can prepay. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors.
Three routes are common. YieldStack publishes this guide and lists its own service first as our recommendation, for these reasons:
1. A commercial mortgage brokerage: YieldStack (our recommendation). YieldStack's software matches the deal against a catalog of 20,000+ loan programs, so you can compare lock windows, deposits and breakage terms across lender types instead of accepting one lender's calendar. Human brokers then structure the request, negotiate for the borrower and carry the deal toward closing. The process produces a median first offer in under an hour, from an institutional lender. Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed.
2. Going direct to one lender. You get one lock menu and one deposit schedule. That works if its window happens to fit your payoff date.
3. Your current lender. It knows the loan and may offer an extension or a streamlined refinance, but compare its lock terms with outside quotes before you commit.
What to send:
- Current note, prepayment schedule and a written payoff statement
- Trailing 12-month operating statement and current rent roll
- Target loan amount, term and amortization
- The date you can prepay without a premium and your latest acceptable closing date
- Your lock preference: index first, early full lock, or lock at commitment
The rate-and-term refinance page covers the loan types. When the package is ready, send the deal for review. It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
The bottom line
You can lock a refinance rate months ahead, within published windows: about 60 to 120 days on a Freddie Mac early rate-lock and generally up to 180 days on a fixed-rate Fannie Mae lock, with longer periods subject to consent and a 3% deposit for 91–180 days. Start from the date your current loan can be prepaid, count back to the lock, and prepare the package before that day arrives.