FHFA Director Bill Pulte says a decision on mortgage fees could come before year end. In a post on X, he said the agency is reviewing loan-level price adjustments, the upfront fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge on loans, and expects to decide “whether there will be any changes to LLPAs before year end.” Trump’s Oct. 22 order separately directs a pilot, if Pulte approves, to cancel mortgage insurance on some new loans.
When will FHFA decide on Fannie and Freddie fees?
Pulte’s timeline is a plan, not a promise. HousingWire reported the post on Oct. 19, and Bloomberg, in a story carried by Insurance Journal, quoted him saying he anticipates the agency will “make a decision on whether there will be any changes to LLPAs before year end.” Neither report says which fees he is weighing or what any change would be worth to a borrower. Bloomberg’s report gives no fee amounts.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which back more than half of the U.S. residential mortgage market. HousingWire notes that FHFA recently folded loans delivered with FICO Classic or VantageScore 4.0 credit scores into a single LLPA grid, and that lenders have criticized the existing grid.
The practical question for a homeowner is whether the changes could touch their loan at all. Bloomberg’s account of the order does not say which new loans would qualify or when the pilot would begin. A current borrower paying mortgage insurance on an older loan is outside the pilot, while someone buying or refinancing after FHFA sets it up could be inside it. For fees, a decision on LLPAs would matter most to people who are about to take out or refinance a loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
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In a separate post, Pulte wrote that the agency is “studying the usage of just one or two credit reports.” Lenders now use three. HousingWire says FHFA explored a two-report standard under the Biden administration but met pushback over scoring inconsistencies and data coverage.
What would the mortgage insurance pilot do?
Section 2 of Executive Order 14438, titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People,” says the FHFA director “shall, if he determines that it is in the best interests of” the enterprises, FHFA and the public, direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set up a pilot that cancels mortgage insurance proactively. It would apply “only to mortgages made after the establishment of the pilot program.”
That wording means people who already have a Fannie- or Freddie-backed loan are not in the pilot. A borrower qualifies only if the loan is new and satisfies “applicable equity requirements based on the property’s current market value,” which the order says an automated valuation model or another approved method would determine. The order sets no equity percentage and no start date.
Servicers would have to notify borrowers promptly “to the extent permitted by law and operationally feasible,” and any cancellation must stay “consistent with financial safety and soundness.” The White House fact sheet describes the same pilot as a way to cancel premiums once borrowers hit the equity test.
Which refinances could see lower fees?
The order’s section 4 tells the director, under the same conditional wording, to expand a title-insurance waiver pilot nationwide, allowing Fannie and Freddie to accept an automated title review instead of a lender’s title policy on eligible refinances. It lists items the director “shall consider”: raising the 80 percent loan-to-value limit “where title risk remains low,” waiving appraisals and income re-verification for certain limited cash-out refinances, and “reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments and other Enterprise fees on such refinances.”
The order also says the director “shall require that cost savings resulting from the program be passed through to borrowers.” It sets no deadline for any of those steps, which is why Pulte’s year-end comment is the first date attached to a fee decision.
Who else did the order tell to cut housing costs?
Section 5 tells the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs secretaries to reduce interest rates on their direct single-family loans, “consistent with applicable law” and “available appropriations.” The order gives no rate. Section 3 creates a manufactured housing task force co-chaired by the HUD secretary and the FHFA director, which must send recommendations to the president within 180 days. It must also evaluate whether federal grant funding can be conditioned on standardized permitting, a step that references Executive Order 14394 of March 13, 2026.
The order closes by saying it is subject to appropriations and creates no enforceable rights. In other words, a borrower cannot hold the agency to any of it, and each step waits on a decision by an agency head. Bloomberg’s report framed the order as an effort to lower housing costs before the midterms, and said September building permits, housing starts and pending sales all came in well below economists’ expectations.
What does a homeowner’s own house cost while Washington decides?
Nothing in the order or in Pulte’s posts changes a household’s bills this month. Insurance, property taxes and the equity in a home all keep moving while the federal decisions wait, and the savings that matter most are the ones a homeowner can control.
Cut Your House Costs includes the home-cost audit worksheet and a lower home insurance bill by shopping and asking for every discount. The guide also covers every senior property-tax break and home equity options compared. The turn here is from a federal fee decision to the costs a homeowner can lower today.
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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.
