On October 22, the White House issued an executive order intended to lower homeownership and mortgage costs, reduce regulatory barriers to mortgage origination, and promote competition and innovation in the housing and mortgage market. Among other things, the order directs the FHFA director, if determined it is in the “best interests” of the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) or the FHFA and the public, to have the GSEs launch a mortgage insurance cancellation pilot. The pilot would apply only to loans made after it is established. The GSEs would use automated valuation models and other available data to identify borrowers who appear to meet equity and other cancellation requirements, subject to safety and soundness standards, and servicers would be required to promptly notify eligible borrowers and reduce barriers to cancellation (related coverage by InfoBytes here).

Subject to the same determination, and consistent with safety and soundness and applicable law, the order also directs the director to expand the existing title acceptance pilot (previously covered by InfoBytes here) into an ongoing nationwide program, which the accompanying fact sheet calls “permanent.” Under the program, a GSE could accept an FHFA-approved title-risk assessment “in lieu of a lender’s title insurance policy” on eligible refinances. In expanding the program, the director must consider: (i) extending eligibility to refinances with loan-to-value ratios above the current 80 percent limit where title risk remains low; (ii) removing geographic limits and certifying additional title-assessment providers; (iii) waiving appraisals, income re-verification, and other documentation requirements for limited cash-out refinances that lower the borrower’s monthly payment, where the enterprise’s data supports doing so; and (iv) reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments and any other enterprise fees on such refinances. The director must also require that any resulting cost savings be passed through to borrowers and that lenders inform borrowers of those savings.

Separately, the order creates a Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by HUD and FHFA, to issue recommendations within 180 days. It also directs USDA and the Department of Veterans Affairs, consistent with applicable law and available appropriations, to lower interest rates on their direct single-family home loans.