F&F Fee

F&F Fee Last week, the FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (F&F) regulator, introduced a fee only for borrowers refinancing a residential mortgage. The fee raised refi rates by 1/8th of a point. While the FHFA offered an inexplicable rationale for the fee, the real reason is the FHFA wants to privatize F&F and that requires lots of capital. So, new fees and thus mildly higher mortgage rates seem entirely plausible.