Treasurer Garrity Leads National Effort to Overturn Mortgage Fees

Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that she is leading a national effort to eliminate new mortgage fees being imposed on home buyers with good credit and high down payments. The new fees, implemented via policy by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, go into effect today.

“This new policy makes it more expensive for people with good credit to buy houses – and that’s absurd,” Treasurer Garrity said. “Americans who have built a good credit score and saved enough to make a strong down payment should not be penalized and forced to pay more on their mortgage every single month. I’m proud that so many of my colleagues from across the country – representing a majority of states – have united to urge the immediate elimination of this policy.”

A total of 33 fiscal officers from 26 other states joined Treasurer Garrity in a letter to President Joe Biden and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra L. Thompson. “For decades, Americans have been told that they will be rewarded for saving their money and building a good credit score,” the letter states. “This policy turns that time-tested principle upside down.”

In the letter, Treasurer Garrity and her fellow fiscal officers point out that although FHFA claims the fees will be used to make mortgages more affordable for people with lower credit scores, there are far better ways to achieve that goal: “We all want to increase home ownership across our great country – that’s a central component of the American Dream. … 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 letter concludes with a simple, direct request to President Biden and Director Thompson: “We urge you to take immediate action to end this unconscionable policy.”