The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs are now permitting lenders to charge borrowers MERS registration fees on all FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed mortgages, according to MERS, a McLean, Va.-based electronic loan registry.R. K. Arnold, president and chief executive officer of MERS, said the agencies' new policy is significant "because it reduces paperwork for lenders and will save borrowers a few more dollars because MERS eliminates the need to prepare and record assignments." The company said HUD has instructed its Homeownership Centers of the new policy and revised its Reference Guide, while the VA has made the change in its Administration Circular 26-05-04 and placed it on the VA loan guaranty website. MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, can be found on the Web at http://www.mersinc.org.
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The Housing for the 21st Century Act includes provisions covering policy, manufactured homes and rural infrastructure introduced in a prior Senate proposal.
February 6 -
Mortgage loan officer licensing saw its first rise since 2022 as Fannie Mae projects $2.4T in 2026 volume. Experts eye a market reset amid improving affordability.
February 6 -
The FHFA chief told Fox an offering could be done near term - but may not be - while a Treasury official addressed conservatorship questions at an FSOC hearing.
February 6 -
The secondary market regulator will formally publish its own rule on Feb. 6, after a comment period and without making changes to what it proposed in July.
February 6 -
Bowing to industry pressure, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning consumers with notices on its complaint portal not to file disputes about inaccurate information on credit reports, among other changes.
February 5 -
The mortgage technology unit at Intercontinental Exchange posted a profit for the third straight quarter, even as lower minimums among renewals capped growth.
February 5




