New Law Requires GSEs Increase Guarantee Fees

The two-month extension of the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut, signed by President Obama December 23, holds immediate implications for the GSEs. The law requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to increase Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s guarantee fees by at least 10 basis points over the 2011 average for all single-family, mortgage-backed securities.

The increase will “be remitted to the U.S. Treasury, rather than retained as reserves by the Enterprises,” said Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA in a statement announcing the fee increase.
The law goes into effect immediately. Therefore, the average guarantee fees charged this year must be at least 10 basis points higher than the average in 2011.
The FHFA must also create a schedule of guarantee fee increases over the next two years.
DeMarco required both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to inform servicers that the fees on all single-family residential mortgages are to increase effective April 1.
“In early 2012, FHFA will further analyze whether additional guarantee fee increases are appropriate to ensure the new requirements are being met,” DeMarco said in his statement at the end of 2011.