Congress moves to block mortgage fee hikes, reversing Biden-era pricing reform
H.R. 258 — To cancel certain proposed changes to loan level price adjustments by the Federal National Mortgage Association and credit fees charged by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. · Filed by Stephanie Bice (R-OK) · Introduced Jan 9, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill blocks the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the two government-sponsored mortgage enterprises—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—from implementing pricing changes announced in January 2023 that adjusted loan-level price adjustments and credit fees. The bill voids those changes entirely, preventing them from taking effect.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is to cancel and void specific pricing changes by the GSEs, rolling back fee increases announced in 2023. It is a direct intervention in mortgage pricing, not a broader policy reform.
What the text implies
- Reversing the 2023 pricing framework may reintroduce cross-subsidies between borrower risk tiers, potentially raising costs for lower-risk borrowers who were benefiting from risk-based pricing.
- The GSEs' financial models and capital adequacy may have been recalibrated around the 2023 fee structure; rolling it back could affect their ability to absorb credit losses or meet regulatory capital requirements.
- Blocking the changes does not address the underlying policy question of whether loan-level pricing should reflect credit risk or be subsidized across the borrower pool—it simply freezes the prior regime.
- The bill does not specify what pricing framework applies after the 2023 changes are voided; it may default to pre-2023 pricing or create regulatory ambiguity until FHFA issues new guidance.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Blocking the fee increases protects borrowers from higher mortgage costs, a direct benefit to homebuyers and refinancers. However, the 2023 changes were designed to improve credit-risk pricing and reduce cross-subsidies; reversing them may shift costs to lower-risk borrowers or reduce the enterprises' financial resilience, potentially raising long-term taxpayer exposure if the GSEs face stress.
Who stands to gain
- mortgage borrowers (lower fees/rates)
- mortgage originators and servicers (preserved fee revenue)
Named in the bill
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), House Committee on Financial Services, Rep. Stephanie Bice (sponsor)
Where it stands
- Jan 9, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 9, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,413 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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