DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1484257
79 79 79 INVESTMENT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY PRESERVATION FHFA ANNOUNCES TARGETED CHANGES TO GSE PRICING FRAMEWORK e Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's (the GSEs) guarantee fee pricing by eliminating upfront fees for certain borrowers and affordable mortgage products while implementing targeted increases to the upfront fees for most cash-out refis. As part of the pricing changes stemming from the FHFA's ongoing review of the GSEs' pricing framework announced last year, FHFA is eliminating upfront fees for: » First-time homebuyers at or below 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI) in most of the nation, and below 120% of AMI in high-cost areas; » HomeReady and Home Possible loans (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's affordable mortgage programs); » HFA Advantage and HFA Preferred loans; and » Single-family loans supporting the Duty to Serve program. "FHFA is eliminating upfront fees for certain first-time homebuyers, low-income borrow- ers, and underserved communities to promote sustainable and equitable access to affordable housing," Director Sandra L. ompson said. "Today's announcement will result in savings for approximately one in five borrowers of the Enter- prises' recent mortgage acquisitions." e new fee reductions will go into effect immediately, and the FHFA will work with the GSEs and announce an implementation date shortly. e implementation of new fees for cash- out refinance loans will begin on February 1, 2023, to minimize market and pipeline disruption. e pricing changes built upon the upfront fee increases for second-home loans and high-bal- ance loans announced in January 2022. e FHFA classifies "high balance loans" as mortgages originated in certain designated areas above the baseline conforming loan limit. e FHFA's new fees went into effect for deliveries and acquisitions beginning April 1, 2022, to minimize market and pipeline disruption. "ese targeted pricing changes will allow the Enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] to better achieve their mission of facilitating equitable and sustainable access to homeownership while improving their regulatory capital position over time," ompson added. "Today's action represents another step FHFA is taking to strengthen the Enterprises' safety and soundness and to ensure access to credit for first-time home buyers and low- and moderate-income borrowers." FHFA also plans to continue to review and update the pricing framework to meet the objec- tives set in FHFA's 2022 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Common Securitization Solutions for the Enterprises to support core mis- sion borrowers, while fostering capital accumula- tion, achieving commercially viable returns, and ensuring a level playing field for all sellers. "e announced updates on credit scoring models should help broaden the scope of eligible borrowers and expand access to homeownership for underserved communities," added Bob Broeksmit, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bank- ers Association (MBA). "MBA supports compe- tition in the credit scoring space, and we will work with FHFA to ensure costs and the implementa- tion process are monitored to mitigate unintended consequences to lenders and borrowers."