President Trump’s Oct. 22 housing order, Executive Order 14438, directs the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to expand a title-insurance waiver pilot into an ongoing, nationwide program, but only if he determines that doing so is in the best interests of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHFA. The same order creates a Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the FHFA director. The order sets no start date for the title program and states no dollar saving.
The two pieces are separate in scope. The title section reaches borrowers who refinance a home loan, while the task force is a study body with a 180-day reporting deadline. Neither one changes a closing or a monthly payment on its own.
What does the order say about the title-insurance waiver?
Section 4 of the executive order says the FHFA director “shall, if he determines that it is in the best interests of the Enterprises or the FHFA,” expand the existing title acceptance pilot into an ongoing program available through both Enterprises. In practice, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would accept an automated title review or other title-risk assessment approved by the FHFA instead of a lender’s title insurance policy on eligible refinance transactions.
The White House fact sheet describes the same step in firmer language, saying the order expands the pilot “into a permanent program” so more borrowers can use “cost-friendly alternatives to title insurance.” The order’s own wording is the narrower of the two. The word “permanent” comes from the fact sheet, and the directive underneath it depends on the director’s finding.
Which refinances could the pilot reach?
The order confines the program to eligible refinance transactions, so a home purchase is not covered. It also ties the waiver to a title-risk assessment that the FHFA must approve, which means the agency, not the lender, decides what stands in for the policy. The order names no provider and no approval date.
Under the existing pilot, the order’s own language points to two limits that the director is told to consider relaxing: a loan-to-value ceiling of 80 percent and geographic restrictions on where the pilot operates. Loan-to-value compares the loan balance with the home’s value, so an 80 percent ceiling excludes refinances where the owner has less equity than that.
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For a homeowner thinking about refinancing, the practical question is whether the loan will go through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and whether the property meets the title-assessment standard the FHFA approves. The order cannot answer that, because it leaves the standard to the agency. Asking the lender and the title company whether a title-risk assessment can replace the lender’s policy is the direct way to find out.
Section 4(b) adds two further items to the director’s list of factors: certifying additional title-assessment providers to promote competition, and reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments and other Enterprise fees on such refinances. Each factor is framed as something to weigh “where the Enterprise’s existing data support doing so,” so none is guaranteed.
Who keeps the savings if the program goes ahead?
Section 4(c) addresses that directly: the director “shall require that cost savings resulting from the program be passed through to borrowers.” The order does not say how the pass-through would be measured or enforced, and it puts no figure on what a refinancing borrower would save. The fact sheet gives none either.
That leaves the amount to the market and to the FHFA’s later guidance. The title-insurance charge on a refinance is one of several closing costs, and the order’s pass-through language covers savings from this program only, not the rest of the closing statement.
What will the manufactured-housing task force do and by when?
Section 3 establishes the Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation. It is co-chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the FHFA director, or their designees, and includes the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce and Veterans Affairs. The order’s stated aim is to increase the quality and lower the cost of building a home.
Within 180 days of the order, which counts to April 20, 2027, the task force must submit recommendations to the President on facilitating the use of modern manufacturing methods. A further instruction directs it to evaluate whether, and under what existing statutory authorities, federal grant funding may be conditioned on adopting such methods. Those are recommendations to the White House, not rules, and the fact sheet names no members beyond the co-chairs.
What else did the same order direct?
Section 5 tells the Secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs to reduce, consistent with applicable law, the interest rates on single-family loans their departments make directly. Section 6(b) makes the order subject to the availability of appropriations.
The open point for refinancing homeowners is timing. The order sets no deadline for the title program, and the director’s determination comes first. Until the FHFA acts, lenders and title companies are working under the existing pilot and its geographic and loan-to-value limits, so a closing quote today reflects those limits rather than the order.
Is a refinance on the table before the FHFA decides?
A title-insurance waiver might trim one line of a refinance, and only if the FHFA director signs off. Meanwhile a home’s other costs, from insurance premiums to the equity tapped in a refinance, are decided by the homeowner today.
Cut Your House Costs turns the story’s money question into the related job it finishes: what the house costs and what it is worth. It includes a lower home insurance bill by shopping and asking for every discount, home equity options compared from a HELOC to a reverse mortgage, and the home-cost audit worksheet. The guide runs 11 pages and has a large-print edition.
Compare HELOC and reverse-mortgage options before a refinance, with the audit worksheet →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
