With Servicing Costs Steadily Rising, Is it Time to Think The Unthinkable: A Hike in GSE Servicing Compensation?
May 26, 2016
Although mortgage delinquency rates are once again at pre-crash levels, servicing costs continue to rise, leading some factions of the industry to ask whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should increase the standard 25 basis point fee they pay to their servicers. The issue of higher servicing compensation was raised by an individual lender during the audience Q&A at a panel featuring the top single-family executives of the two government-sponsored enterprises at last week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Both noted that servicing has changed significantly since the housing crisis, and that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed them to review servicing compensation. Subsequent interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance revealed...