FHFA instructs Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to delay raising guarantee fees for mortgages; agency to conduct through evaluation of changes and their likely impact, will not give less than 120 days' notice before implementing any changes, says FHFA director
Allison Oesterle
WASHINGTON
,
January 8, 2014
(press release)
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In early December, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced plans to increase the base guarantee fee (g-fee) for all mortgages by 10 basis points, update the up-front g-fee grid, and eliminate the up-front 25 basis point adverse market fee that has been assessed on all mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2008 effective in March and April 2014. FHFA announced today that it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to delay implementation of these changes.
FHFA Director Melvin L. Watt, who was sworn in as Director on January 6, said that he intends to conduct a thorough evaluation of the proposed changes and their likely impact as expeditiously as possible, and would give not less than 120 days’ notice after completing the evaluation before implementing any changes. “The implications formortgage credit availability and how these changes might interact with the new qualified mortgage standards could be significant,” said Watt. “I want to fully understand these implications before deciding whether to move forward with any adjustments to g- fee pricing.”
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $5.5 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions
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