FHFA recently changed the upfront fees charged by Fannie and Freddie, in part to help meet the highly conservative capital requirements imposed on them by former Director Mark Calabria. Now, critics of the fees have joined critics of the conservatorship.
As the Biden administration focuses on ending discrimination in appraisals, trade groups and industry advocates call for standards on reconsiderations of value.
The GSEs say the spike in repurchase requests simply reflects the historic volume in 2020 and 2021. Lenders argue there should be something short of a repurchase request for performing loans with minor defects.
FHFA’s proposed revisions to the enterprise regulatory capital framework prompted feedback from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The GSEs support various aspects of the proposal while seeking some changes.
The rescinded fee would have added $1,250 in cost to the purchase of a $300,000 home. Or, borrowers could have elected to pay an extra $24.75 per month on their mortgage.
The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee has demanded that the FHFA director meet with committee staff to prove the GSEs’ new pricing grids don’t amount to more cross-subsidy.
Fannie and Freddie modified their policies to support lower-income borrowers by allowing greater use of downpayment assistance and equity-sharing programs.
FHFA has asserted that most of the changes to the GSEs’ loan-level pricing adjustment grids are risk based or meant to meet the GSEs’ capital requirements.