Fannie halts fee increase

Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae, seized by the federal government last month, is canceling a fee hike for new mortgages.

Fannie Mae said Thursday that the fee introduced last year would stay at 0.25% of the total loan amount. It had been set to rise to 0.5% on Nov. 1. For a $200,000 loan, that would have been a $500 increase.

The company first introduced the so-called adverse market delivery charge late last year as the housing market slumped and the company tried to shore up its finances.

Thursday’s decision comes nearly a month after the company, the largest buyer and backer of U.S. mortgages, was seized along with its sibling company, Freddie Mac.

In recent months, Fannie and Freddie have hiked several fees for borrowers without sterling credit, while asking for bigger down payments. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers and home builders have complained that the moves were stifling the housing market.

Chief Executive Herbert M. Allison Jr. said Fannie Mae was “evaluating all of our risk management, underwriting guidelines, pricing and costs.”