Fannie Closer to Slashing Servicing Fee?

Fannie Mae could be moving closer to slashing its minimum servicing fee to as low as 13 basis points, industry executives have told MortgageWire.If Fannie does cut its servicing fee (currently set at a minimum of 25 bps), it's expected that Freddie Mac might follow suit. "Some of our customers have asked us to evaluate the current level of the required minimum mortgage servicing fee," a spokesman for Fannie Mae said. "Since any change in the minimum servicing fee may affect the market for delivery of Fannie Mae to-be-announced mortgage-backed securities -- one of the most liquid securities trading in the fixed-income markets today -- we are engaged in a process to gather information and input from a wide range of industry participants. That process is ongoing, and no decisions have been reached at this time." A Freddie Mac spokesman would say only that the company has talked to some of its customers "about their needs and the servicing fee." He would not elaborate. (See the full, exclusive story in the Jan. 24 issue of National Mortgage News.)