New FHFA Director Will Delay GSE Loan Fee Increases

The in-coming Federal Housing Finance Agency director does not want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders implementing newly announced loan fee hikes until he has a chance to thoroughly review the rationale behind the higher fees.

Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., said late Friday that he will be sworn in as the new GSE regulator on Jan. 6.

Upon being sworn in as the FHFA director, “I intend to announce that FHFA will delay implementation” of the 10 basis point guarantee fee and loan level price adjustment fee increases, Watt said in a statement issued by his congressional office.

The current FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco announced the loan fee increases on Dec. 9. The first fee increase is slated to go into effect March 1 for newly delivered loans. But lenders would have to price their loans based on the new fee schedules much earlier.

“I felt it was important to announce my intention now because of the prospect that some lenders could start to price the changes...well before the effective dates,” Watt says.