Trump order calls for pilot to cancel mortgage insurance early on future Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans

President Donald Trump on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, signed an executive order titled “Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People.” It tells the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue a pilot under which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would cancel mortgage insurance on their own initiative, and orders steps on refinance title costs, factory-built housing and federal direct home loans.¹

Mortgage insurance

The FHFA director is to direct the two companies to create the pilot if he determines it is in the best interests of the companies or the agency and the public. It would cover only mortgages made after it is set up, using automated valuation models to find borrowers who appear to qualify for cancellation. Insurance would be canceled when a company finds the borrower meets equity requirements based on current market value and other safety, contractual and legal conditions are met. Servicers are to notify borrowers promptly where feasible and cut unneeded documentation and appraisal costs.¹

Title insurance on refinances

Under a similar condition, the director is to have the companies expand their title acceptance pilot into an ongoing nationwide program, under which they may accept an automated title review or other FHFA-approved assessment instead of a lender’s title insurance policy on eligible refinances. The director is to consider loan-to-value ratios above the current 80% limit, dropping geographic limits, waiving appraisals and income re-verification for some limited cash-out refinances, and reducing loan-level price adjustments and other fees. Savings must be passed to borrowers.¹ The White House fact sheet calls it a “permanent program.”² In a March 2024 statement, FHFA said the pilot would waive the lender’s title insurance requirement on certain low-risk refinances.³

Manufactured housing task force

The order creates the Task Force on Manufactured Housing Innovation, co-chaired by the HUD secretary and the FHFA director and including the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce and Veterans Affairs. “Within 180 days of the date of this order,” it must send the president recommendations on modern manufacturing of factory-built homes eligible for federal programs. It is also to evaluate whether federal grants may be conditioned on, or used to encourage, state and local adoption of standardized permitting.¹

HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the task force “can usher in the next generation of housing by modernizing standards and speeding up approvals across government.”⁴

USDA and VA loans

The agriculture and veterans affairs secretaries are to reduce interest rates on single-family home loans their departments make directly, consistent with applicable law and available appropriations. The order sets no amount or deadline.¹

Reactions

The fact sheet says proactive cancellation will remove “a large monthly expense” for qualifying borrowers.² Mortgage Bankers Association President Bob Broeksmit said lenders “welcome these latest initiatives to reduce the costs of refinancing,” Scotsman Guide reported.⁵ National Association of Realtors executive Shannon McGahn said the order “helps address the costs associated with homeownership,” Real Estate News and Mortgage Professional America reported.⁶⁷

American Land Title Association CEO Chris Morton said cost-cutting efforts should not “shift significant financial risks onto American families or the broader housing finance system,” Scotsman Guide reported.⁵ HousingWire reported that Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts wrote in an Oct. 21 research note, before the order was released, that its impact on mortgage companies was likely to be limited, noting refinances account for about 7% of title premiums.⁸

What the records do not show

• The order sets no deadline for the mortgage insurance pilot, the title program or the USDA and VA rate cuts.¹
• The mortgage insurance and title provisions depend on the FHFA director’s determination; as of Oct. 23, FHFA’s news releases page showed no release on the order.¹⁹
• Neither the order nor the fact sheet estimates savings, the number of borrowers affected or the size of any rate cut.¹²
• The order had not appeared in the Federal Register or its public inspection list as of Oct. 23.¹⁰