Brenner Resolution Urges Feds Not to Penalize Consumers with Good Credit

COLUMBUS—The Senate approved a resolution today co-sponsored by State Senators Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) and Steve Wilson (R-Maineville) to reverse a move by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to increase mortgage fees for borrowers with stronger credit while lowering fees for higher-risk borrowers. Senate Resolution 115 calls for the repeal of a new fee structure for purchase, rate-term refinance, and cash-out refinance loans that took effect on May 1, 2023.

Brenner and Wilson say the federal rule will reward higher-risk borrowers at the expense of individuals who have often spent their lives building or rebuilding their credit. The senators warn this rule will not increase home ownership, it will increase home foreclosures.

"The increased fees could have a significant chilling effect on the real estate market in Ohio," said Brenner. "These increased fees combined with higher mortgage interest rates could inhibit the ability of middle class Ohioans to afford a home or to obtain a loan to maintain or improve their current home."

"Homeowners today are already facing the highest inflation rate in more than four decades. Now is not the time for fee increases on homebuyers," said Wilson. "The lessons learned from the subprime mortgage crisis must not be ignored. We must ensure that we do not fall into the kind of reckless subsidization that plagued the housing market in recent decades."

Senate Resolution 115 calls upon President Biden to rescind the new loan-level price adjustments; should he refuse, it calls upon the United States Congress to intervene.