But the stratagem comes with costs. According to FHFA estimates, Fannie and Freddie will face between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion in additional charges due to the extension. That’s on top of the estimated $6 billion the two have already incurred.

Despite this "relief" measure, the GSE regulator has been sharply criticized by lenders because the fee is so steep: 500 basis points for first-time buyers and 700 bps for everyone else.

As Brown and Reed point out, unless Fannie and Freddie specifically require it, the parties purchasing these loans are under no obligation to provide forbearance to the borrowers.

The deadline for potential competitors to submit their proposals was Sept. 15. However, that was just the first of four phases in the selection process established last year by the FHFA. The enterprises expect the process to take at least another year to complete.

At DOR, formerly known as the Division of Conservatorship, Cave will supervise the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

Bair, a native of Kansas, came to Washington under the wing of then-Senator Bob Dole in the early 1980s.

“Let’s be very clear,” Calabria said. “The CARES Act imposed unfunded costs on Fannie and Freddie,” adding that, by statute, the GSEs are required to recoup those costs via income.

The pencil sharpening represents a 13.8% jump from the $3.4 trillion Fannie predicted just month ago, and 88.8% more than the $2.06 trillion in originations the GSE forecast in January, before the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.