tighten credit rules and more fees for home mortgages

Bigger down payments are also needed to counter higher risks, they say. But the new costs could offset stimulus efforts.

It's not what home buyers, sellers and refinancers want to hear, but they need to know: Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are ratcheting up their mandatory fees and toughening credit score and down-payment rules as of April 1.

Most major lenders already are pricing in the higher fees, effectively raising costs to consumers immediately and reducing the impact of housing stimulus efforts from Congress and the Obama administration.

Under Fannie's and Freddie's new guidelines, even applicants who assumed that their FICO scores would get them favorable rates will be charged more unless they can come up with down payments of 30 percent or higher. For example, a buyer with a 699 FICO score who can bring a sizable down payment of about 25 percent to the table will now get hit with a 1.5 percent "delivery" fee at closing under the new guidelines.

A buyer with a FICO score between 700 and 720 will pay an extra three-quarters of a point. Even someone with a 739 FICO -- once considered a platinum guarantee of the best rates available -- will get dinged with a quarter-point add-on.

Applicants who seek to buy a condominium and cannot come up with a 25 percent down payment will be hit with a three-quarter point add-on penalty, no matter how high their credit score -- simply because they are not purchasing a traditional detached, stand-alone home.

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