Executive Order Directs FHFA to Cut Mortgage and Title Insurance Costs

Executive Order 14438, signed on October 22, 2026, directs the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to establish a pilot program for proactive cancellation of mortgage insurance on single-family loans owned, guaranteed, or securitized by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. The pilot must use automated valuation models to assess current market value and identify borrowers who meet equity and other statutory requirements, with servicers required to notify borrowers promptly and reduce documentation and appraisal costs.

The order also creates the Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the FHFA Director, and includes the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Veterans Affairs. Within 180 days, the Task Force must submit recommendations to the President on modern manufacturing methods for factory-built housing, including standardizing specifications, reciprocal agency recognition of licenses, eliminating duplicative federal reviews, and using federal financing to encourage affordable production.

Section 4 expands the existing title acceptance pilot into an ongoing nationwide program. The FHFA Director may allow an automated title review in lieu of a lender's title insurance on eligible refinance transactions, consider extending eligibility beyond the current 80 percent loan-to-value limit, remove geographic restrictions, waive appraisals and income re-verification for certain cash-out refinances, and reduce loan-level price adjustments. Cost savings must be passed through to borrowers, and lenders must inform borrowers of those savings.

The Secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs are instructed, consistent with applicable law and available appropriations, to reduce interest rates on single-family home loans made directly by their departments. The order affirms that it does not create any enforceable right or benefit, is subject to appropriations, and that publication costs are to be borne by the FHFA.