MBA Call to Action Presses Congress on G-Fees

The Mortgage Bankers Association continued its pressure on Congress to leave out a provision in a highway reauthorization bill that would allow an increase in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac credit guaranty fees to fund highway projects.  

The Mortgage Action Alliance, MBA’s grassroots advocacy arm, sent the Call to Action yesterday, asking its members to contact their members of Congress to call on House and Senate negotiators to honor an MBA-supported amendment in the House version of the highway authorization bill that removes an increase in g-fees and a cut in Federal Reserve stock dividends as sources of funding for the bill.  

The Senate-passed highway bill still contains these provisions, which MBA called “harmful.” Negotiators must iron out differences between the House and Senate bills; MBA is concerned that the final bill could still contain the g-fee/Fed dividend increases.  

“G-fees are a critical risk management tool used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to protect against losses from faulty loans,” MBA said. “Increasing g-fees for non-related purposes effectively taxes potential homebuyers and consumers looking to refinance their mortgages.”  

MBA said extension of the increase in g-fees, which the Mortgage Action Alliance has issued numerous calls to action about in the past, would be harmful to the real estate finance system. “The increase, first enacted in 2011, has harmed homeowners, continues to do so every day and should not be extended to fund unrelated federal spending,” MBA said. “Using the housing GSEs as a piggybank to fund unrelated government programs is bad policy–plain and simple–and it puts the nascent housing market recovery in jeopardy.”  

Earlier this month, the House passed by a 354-72 vote an amendment, introduced by Reps. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., that removed extension of an increase in g-fees and a Federal Reserve Bank stock dividend cut as funding sources for the highway authorization bill. The House vote came on the heels of an MBA/trade group letter to House members and two separate MAA Calls to Action.  

The conference committee is expected to present a final bill for vote before Thanksgiving.  

For more information about the Mortgage Action Alliance, click https://www.mba.org/get-involved/take-action-with-maa.