The House has passed a bill to eliminate a mortgage rule implemented by the Biden administration, resulting in increased rates and fees for some creditworthy homebuyers while reducing costs for those with riskier credit scores.
Repeal of Mortgage Rule Approved by Bipartisan Vote
With a bipartisan vote of 230-189, including support from 14 Democrats, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s mortgage rule repeal was approved by the Republican majority.
The changes to fees, effective from May 1, aimed to facilitate wider homeownership. These modifications were implemented by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed entities for home lending.
House Republicans criticized the rule change as a “socialist policy” that penalized individuals with higher credit scores and incentivized undesirable financial behavior.
Representative Warren Davidson, the bill’s author from Ohio, argued that the primary objective of the rule change was to generate more revenue for the government-backed lenders.