Lenders Reply to GSE Hike in Kind

In response to pending delivery fee hikes from the government-sponsored enterprises, some residential lenders are raising prices — especially on condominiums — before the GSE fee increases take effect, loan brokers said.

One broker provided an e-mail last week from Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. of Ocala, Fla., that said, "As a result of recently announced Freddie Mac revised delivery fees, TB&W will implement new price adjustments on any loan locked on or after February 4, 2009 with the issue of the rate sheet posted in the morning."

A Taylor Bean account executive did not return a call for comment.

Taylor Bean, a nondepository, is the nation's ninth-largest residential funder and one of its largest remaining wholesale funders.

A loan officer with another company said he was asked at the last minute to pay an additional 75 basis points in fees because the mortgage he was working on was for a condominium.

"I couldn't pass on the cost, so I had to eat it," he said.

With home values declining, Freddie Mac is raising delivery fees for certain mortgages with high loan-to-value ratios and low FICO scores starting April 1. Fannie Mae is doing the same.

The higher delivery fees ultimately will be paid for by consumers, whose closing costs will go up.

Besides high-LTV loans and low FICO scores, increases in delivery fees are coming on cashout refinancings, condominiums, and certain adjustable-rate mortgages.

A Freddie spokesman said the GSE is increasing its fees because of "market dynamics."

The changes in fees were outlined in a Jan. 30 bulletin from the company.

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