The White House is considering ordering Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and multiple federal agencies to implement a raft of policy changes aimed at lowering mortgage financing costs ahead of upcoming midterm elections, according to a draft executive order obtained by Scotsman Guide.

The proposed order would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) — which oversee government-guaranteed mortgage programs — to unliterally lower mortgage rates on single-family loans using agency authorities.

Fannie and Freddie, according to the draft order, would also be directed to review their portfolios for borrowers eligible to have their mortgage insurance “cancelled proactively,” in keeping with safety and soundness expectations, their contractual obligations and growing collateral risks.

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Mortgage servicers thus could be mandated by Fannie and Freddie, “to the extent permitted by law and operationally feasible, to notify borrowers promptly when mortgage insurance may be cancelled” and reduce and eliminate “unnecessary documentation requests, appraisal costs, and other administrative barriers to cancellation.”

Housing affordability a key midterm issue

The draft order reviewed by Scotsman Guide is subject to change — or may not be issued at all — but multiple industry sources who have seen the document said it may be issued by the White House as soon as Wednesday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Organized into five sections and containing a multitude of provisions, the draft executive order is titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People.” It is unclear whether the range of directives in the order comply with existing mortgage laws and authorities of relevant federal agencies.

“Over the past two decades, many creditworthy Americans have been locked out of homeownership due to the rising costs associated with homeownership,” the draft order states as its purpose, citing “unnecessary” regulatory requirements and “outdated” origination processes that have increased closing costs and “made homeownership unaffordable.”

Just weeks out from hotly contested November midterm elections, Republican lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives are struggling to carry their water with voters as surveys favor Democrats to win back both chambers of Congress. Costs of living are voters’ primary concern, as they were during the presidential election in 2024 when Republicans won the White House and took control of both the House and Senate.

Perhaps nowhere are ongoing homebuying affordability challenges more visible than in mortgage rates now averaging more than 7%, compared to rates of around 6% in February. Elevated borrowing costs have amplified mortgage rate lock-in effects, given that two-thirds of existing borrowers have loans with rates under 5%.

Not only have elevated borrowing costs sidelined prospective buyers and slowed housing turnover to multidecade lows, but higher rates have also sapped the market of refinance demand.

Many borrowers have stretched their budgets in recent years to purchase a home at elevated mortgage rates — with the intention of lowering their monthly payments by refinancing when rates drop. But rates have only steadily risen since March and are projected to spend all of 2027 around current levels, according to economists at Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Reducing LLPAs, closing costs for refinances

The draft order would authorize Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to consider significant expansion of a title insurance waiver pilot program for eligible refinances, with the aim of lowering closing costs on refinances in a range of new ways.

The FHFA did not respond to Scotsman Guide’s request for comment.

The title waiver pilot program began in 2024 and allowed for alternative title verification methods on certain refinance transactions. That includes removing geographic limitations, widening eligibility to borrowers with less than 20% equity and “certifying additional title-assessment providers to promote competition.”

The draft order also proposes “reducing or eliminating loan-level price adjustments” for eligible refinances and “waiving appraisals, income re-verification, and other documentation requirements for limited cash-out refinances that reduce the borrower’s monthly payment, where the Enterprise’s existing data support doing so.”

In lieu of appraisals, the order suggests Fannie and Freddie would “embrace innovative risk and value assessment technologies that incorporate Super Intelligence to drive down mortgage and homeownership costs,” using President Donald Trump’s preferred term for artificial intelligence.

“The Director shall require that cost savings resulting from the program be passed through to borrowers and that lenders inform borrowers of those savings,” the draft order states.

Taking a page out of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s book, one section of the draft order would direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Commerce, VA and USDA to start a “task force” to standardize permitting and facilitate production of manufactured and factory-built housing.

That task force, which would be co-chaired by Pulte and HUD Secretary Scott Turner, would also evaluate under what existing laws federal grant funding “may be conditioned” on adoption of standardized permitting and licensing for factory-built housing at the state and local levels.

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Eric Souza contributed reporting.