(a) The Secretary may charge a borrower the following reasonable fees, per use, following origination, in connection with the servicing of any vendee loan:

(1) Processing assumption fee for the transfer of legal liability of repaying the mortgage when the individual assuming the loan is approved. Such fee will not exceed $300, plus the actual cost of the credit report. If the assumption is denied, the fee will not exceed the actual cost of the credit report;

(2) Processing subordination fee, not to exceed $350, to ensure that a modified vendee loan retains its first lien position;

(3) Processing partial release fee, not to exceed $350, to exclude collateral from the mortgage contract once a certain amount of the mortgage loan has been paid;

(4) Processing release of lien fee, not to exceed $15, for the release of an obligor from a mortgage loan in connection with a division of real property;

(5) Processing payoff statement fee, not to exceed $30, for a payoff statement showing the itemized amount due to satisfy a mortgage loan as of a specific date;

(6) Processing payment by phone fee, not to exceed $12, when a payment is made by phone and handled by a servicing representative; and

(7) Processing payment by phone fee, not to exceed $10, when a payment is made by phone and handled through an interactive voice response system, without contacting a servicing representative.

(b) The specific fees to be charged on each account may be negotiated between the Secretary and the borrower. The Secretary will review the maximum fees under paragraph (a) of this section bi-annually to determine that they remain reasonable.

(c) The Secretary may charge a borrower reasonable fees established in the loan instrument, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Property inspection fees;

(2) Property preservation fees;

(3) Appraisal fees;

(4) Attorneys' fees;

(5) Returned-check fees;

(6) Late fees; and

(7) Any other fee the Secretary determines reasonably necessary for the protection of the Secretary's investment.

(d) Any fee included in the loan instrument and permitted under paragraph (c) of this section would be based on the amount customarily charged in the industry for the performance of the service in the particular area, the status of the loan, and the characteristics of the affected property.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 2041, 3720, 3733)

[82 FR 35904, Aug. 2, 2017]