Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity has joined 33 fiscal officers from 26 other states in advocating the elimination of federal mortgage fees.
Officials said Garrity and other state fiscal officers recently sent correspondence to President Joe Biden and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra L. Thompson regarding the matter.
“We write expressing our deep concern with the new Federal Housing Finance Agency policy making it significantly more expensive for people with good credit to buy houses,” the fiscal officers wrote. “This new policy will force homebuyers with good credit to pay more on their mortgage every single month. In other words, the policy will take money away from the people who played by the rules and did things right – including millions of hardworking, middle-class Americans who built a good credit score and saved enough to make a strong down payment.”
The fiscal officers maintain those who make down payments of 20 percent or more on their homes will pay the highest fees.
“For decades, Americans have been told that they will be rewarded for saving their money and building a good credit score,” the fiscal officers concluded. “This policy turns that time-tested principle upside down. Federal programs exist to address affordable housing assistance, and the new policy does nothing to address the shortage of housing inventory. But the right way to solve that problem is not to use the power of the federal government to penalize hardworking, middle-class American families by confiscating their money and using it as a handout. The right way is to implement policies which will reduce inflation, cut energy costs and bring lower interest rates.”
The fiscal officers said the FHFA practice of making substantive policy changes without utilizing the federal rulemaking process is inappropriate.