The Nation - News from March 8, 1987

The Reagan Administration, embroiled in a fight with Congress over a popular housing program, has backed down and announced it was rescinding a proposed fee increase for the Government National Mortgage Assn., popularly known as Ginnie Mae. Critics said the mortgage guarantee fee hike to 0.1% from 0.06% would have added $600 to the total cost of buying a home for people in the Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration mortgage programs. The House last week passed a bill seeking to block the fee increase.