After Pushback, Confusion, FHFA Rescinds Plan for Upfront Fees

WASHINGTON—The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has rescinded the upfront fees based on borrowers’ debt-to-income (DTI) ratios acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The FHFA announced in January a new upfront fee for certain borrowers with a DTI above 40%, followed by an announcement in March it would delay implementation. That proposal received significant pushback and also led to some confusion.

According to the FHFA, it received feedback from mortgage and other industry participants on challenges implementing the DTI ratio-based fee, CUNA reported.

“To continue this valuable dialogue, FHFA will provide additional transparency on the process for setting the Enterprises' single-family guarantee fees and will request public input on this issue," said FHFA Director Sandra Thompson.