Housing Costs Executive Order Targets PMI and Title Insurance

What happened

On October 22, 2026, the White House issued an executive order titled "Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People." According to the order, the goal is to reduce regulatory barriers to mortgage origination and to use "innovative risk and value assessment technologies" to bring down homeownership costs.

The order has four main parts:

• Proactive mortgage insurance cancellation. If the FHFA Director decides it's in the public interest, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would set up a pilot. The pilot would use automated valuation models (AVMs) to find borrowers who appear to meet equity requirements for canceling mortgage insurance. It would cover only mortgages made after the pilot launches. Servicers would be told to notify those borrowers and cut back on documentation and appraisal costs.
• Title insurance on refinances. The Director may expand the existing title acceptance pilot into a nationwide program. On eligible refinances, it would accept an automated title review in place of a lender's title policy. The Director would also consider raising eligibility above the current 80% loan-to-value limit. The order requires that savings be passed through to borrowers.
• Manufactured housing. A new Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by HUD and FHFA, has 180 days to recommend ways to standardize permitting and approvals for factory-built homes.
• Direct loan rates. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs are directed to lower interest rates on single-family home loans their departments make directly, consistent with applicable law and available funding.

Why it matters for agents

The mortgage insurance pilot would change how cancellation works today. Under Fannie Mae's servicing guide, mortgage insurance ends automatically when the loan balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the property's original value. Borrowers can also ask to cancel based on current value. In that case, Fannie Mae's guide says servicers "must not solicit a borrower for MI termination based on current value," so the borrower has to start the request. The pilot would instead have the Enterprises spot eligible borrowers themselves.

Borrower-initiated cancellation under Fannie Mae's guide also requires a clean payment record. That means no payment 30 or more days late in the last 12 months and none 60 or more days late in the last 24 months. The order says the pilot will also have payment-history requirements, but it doesn't spell them out.

Much of the order is conditional. The FHFA actions apply only "if he determines" they're in the best interests of the Enterprises and the public. The order also says it creates no enforceable rights. Agents talking with buyers who expect mortgage insurance, or with past clients thinking about refinancing, can mention these possible changes. They shouldn't present any of them as current policy until the FHFA acts.