Property Management Required For FHA?

[Art Maydan]

I found a 4-unit I want to buy with FHA to house hack. I'm a first time home buyer. My lender pre-approved me for it, but says that it's an FHA requirement for someone with less than 2 years of property management experience to use a property management company to manage any units they want to count income from into the debt to income ratio. I don't qualify for the property without the rental income.

Is this really a requirement? I’ve never heard of this before? Is there any way to get around hiring a property manager for a building I live in?