Builders Urge Rollback of Fannie Surcharge

The National Association of Home Builders is urging Fannie Mae to roll back a planned 25-basis-point surcharge that lenders would pay when they deliver loans to the giant secondary market agency."This is no time for Fannie Mae's business interests to take precedence over its mission responsibility," said Jerry Howard, the NAHB's executive vice president and chief executive. The builders are one of Fannie's strongest allies, and they have consistently opposed government efforts to impose "user fees" on Fannie and Freddie Mac, which the association terms a tax on homebuyers. In this case, the user fee is being imposed by Fannie Mae, Mr. Howard said. "We oppose it, and urge Fannie to reconsider." The 25-bps delivery fee is slated to go into effect March 1. The NAHB can be found on the Web at http://www.nahb.com.