HR 53119th CongressIn Committee

Responsible Borrower Protection Act of 2025

Introduced: Jan 3, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Responsible Borrower Protection Act of 2025 would block the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—from implementing the changes they announced in January 2023 to the single-family mortgage credit fee pricing framework. In practice, this means the 2023 pricing framework changes (as described in the Lender Letter LL-2023-01 and Bulletin 2023-1) would have no force or effect. At the same time, the bill preserves the ability of the enterprises to use risk-based pricing for credit fees on single-family mortgages. The overall goal appears to be preserving the existing pricing structure from 2023 while allowing lenders to price risk, rather than applying new framework changes that were proposed in 2023.

Key Points

1Short title: This act may be cited as the “Responsible Borrower Protection Act of 2025.”
2Cancellation of 2023 changes: The FHFA and the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac enterprises may not implement the January 19, 2023 changes to the single-family mortgage credit fee pricing framework, and the related Lender Letter LL-2023-01 and Bulletin 2023-1 would have no force or effect.
3Scope of cancellation: The prohibition applies specifically to changes announced in 2023 to the single-family pricing framework for credit fees charged by the Enterprises.
4Preservation of risk-based pricing: The act explicitly does not prohibit risk-based pricing for credit fees on single-family housing mortgages. It allows enterprises to apply risk-based pricing within the framework rather than implementing the 2023 changes.
5Definitions and participants: The term “enterprises” refers to the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) as defined in the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, and the provisions relate to their single-family pricing framework.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Borrowers seeking single-family mortgages: The act aims to keep credit-fee pricing from changing in ways that were proposed in 2023, potentially affecting the total cost of borrowing for many households.Secondary group/area affected- Mortgage lenders and brokers: Lenders that price single-family loans based on the Enterprises’ framework would be constrained from adopting the 2023 changes and must continue operating under the pre-2023 framework (while still able to use risk-based pricing within that framework).Additional impacts- Housing finance policy and market dynamics: By freezing the 2023 changes, the bill could limit the FHFA’s and the Enterprises’ ability to adjust pricing in response to risk, market conditions, or other factors. It clarifies that risk-based pricing remains permissible, which could influence how lenders structure loan fees for borrowers with different risk profiles.The bill is introduced and currently not law. It reflects a legislative stance to halt the 2023 changes while preserving risk-based pricing options. If enacted, it would require FHFA and the Enterprises to adhere to the 2023 pricing framework as it existed prior to these changes, and would not bar lenders from pricing credit fees based on risk within that framework.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 18, 2025