As part of its housing finance overhaul, the Obama administration is reportedly contemplating proposing a fee on lenders in exchange for the federal backing of mortgages, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Reporters Deborah Solomon and Nick Timiraos write that the key challenge for policy-makers in implementing such a fee would be determining an accurate price for the fee.

At the administration's summit on real estate finance last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner restated his belief that there is "a strong case to be made for a carefully designed [government] guarantee in a reformed system."

"The challenge is to make sure that any government guarantee is priced to cover the risk of losses, and structured to minimize taxpayer exposure," Geithner said in his opening remarks.

To read the full Wall Street Journal report, click here.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal