The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, or MISMO, a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association that sets rules for handling the registration of home loans, announced Monday it would assess a new fee for every origination.

The fee is just 75 cents per mortgage, but that would add up to more than $4.4 million a year if all purchasers used a home loan, based on Fannie Mae’s projection of 5.8 million sales of new and existing homes in 2021. And, that doesn’t include refinanced mortgages.

The announcement cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to advance technology for electronic mortgages, including remote notarization, although the new fee was approved by the MBA board in October.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our industry significantly, demonstrating the importance of continuing to discover and develop new digital and technology solutions that will benefit our industry and customers alike,” said Bob Broeksmit, MBA’s CEO. “All proceeds collected will go directly to MISMO to advance and accelerate the production of valuable products and services MISMO creates for the industry.”

The fee will be collected by the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems when it registers a new loan on its system.

“MERS will be the billing agent for MISMO and will retain none of the fee,” Broeksmit said. “In this role, it will serve as a utility providing a service to MISMO and the industry.”

MISMO is working to create standards for fully digitizing loan files, common closing datasets, and standardizing servicing files to ensure compliance and make servicing transfers easier, Broeksmit said in the statement.

“The new fee will allow MISMO to move more quickly to better assist mortgage lenders of all sizes and business models by seamlessly blending the integration and sharing of data across the real estate finance landscape, offering a variety of benefits for borrowers and industry,” he said.