MISMO adds 40 definitions of fee charges to reference guide

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The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has added over 40 standardized fee names to a dictionary it created and is seeking public comment on the revisions.

The 30-day public comment period on those updates runs through Aug. 7.

"MISMO developed this guide to promote the uniform usage of fee names and descriptions for the purpose of creating consistency across the industry and to facilitate efforts to comply with regulations," said its Acting President Rick Hill in a press release. "These efficiencies ultimately reduce costs and save time for all parties involved."

The Consumer Facing Charge and Fee Naming Guide became available for use in July 2023.

At the time, then-MISMO president David Coleman said the organization was looking "to promote the uniform application of fee names and descriptions for the purpose of creating consistency across the industry and to facilitate efforts to comply with regulations."

In December 2023, MISMO asked for industry participants to join a development work group focusing on fee modernization and standardizing using the guide as a starting point. The group was initiated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, using information collected during Uniform Closing Disclosure Critical Edits Phase 3 initiative.

"The GSEs' experience has shown the need to increase available enumerations and clarity of structures for categorizing fees so that they can be logically classified and aggregated," Coleman said in the December 2023 press release.

These changes were developed through a collaborative process in the Fee Modernization Development Workgroup.

They already have been included in the release of the Version 3.6.1 Reference Model.

The new list covers the gamut of fees lenders could potentially charge a consumer as part of the origination process. The list includes, but is not limited to, such items as defining the charge for an attorney opinion letter, the fee for a refinance particular to New York called a consolidation, extension and modification agreement (CEMA), and a condominium association estoppel fee, all the way through the warehouse fee.

Each new data point or attribute enumeration name also includes a definition stating the purpose of that fee.


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