Remember back in December when Congress extended the payroll tax cut for an additional two months? Well, there is one truth in life that pretty much applies to everything, and that is “there is no such thing as free.” Although this bill might have had some good intentions, you just know that the money had to come from somewhere. And how is the government going to fund the two month extension? Not by reducing the budget, but by making homeowners pay for it, of course.

There is a new fee for homeowners who utilize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backed loans. In order to fund this two month extension, for the next ten years all loans and refinances that are backed by Fannie and Freddie will be subject to a fee that is currently 1/10th of 1%. This fee remains in effect for the life of the loan, and can amount to several thousands (even tens of thousands) of dollars over the life of a mortgage (especially since it can possibly be increased.) And, you won’t ever see this fee broken down on your loan documents because it is built into the interest rate.

To top it off, the money collected will go into the general fund where Congress will be free to spend it on whatever they want, rather than into the Social Security fund to replace the payroll taxes that weren’t collected. Slick, isn’t it?