SHOULD millions of homebuyers and refinancers have the option of shopping for a guaranteed, fixed-price package of settlement costs on their mortgage, along with the interest rate quote?

Wouldn't such a choice provide at least some improvement to the current system, where last-minute charges can add hundreds - even thousands - of dollars of unexpected expenses to a mortgage transaction?

Most major consumer advocacy organizations - from the Consumer Federation of America to AARP to Consumers Union and the National Consumer Law Center - endorse the concept of guaranteed fees. The 35 million-member AARP says the settlement-cost packaging plan proposed by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez represents "a novel concept to promote true comparison shopping for consumers" that will "exponentially enhance consumer understanding" by "providing certainty to consumers at an early stage of shopping."

Under the plan, shoppers could get rate quotes that come with fixed-price costs that are "shoppable" among competing lenders before signing up. One lender might quote 6 percent and $2,750 in total costs. A second lender might be $500 higher on closing costs. A third might quote a lower interest rate but higher fees. Once you picked a rate-and-cost package, the deal would be guaranteed and legally enforceable.

At the same time, you could still shop under a modified version of the current system, where rates are quoted but fees are not guaranteed.

Martinez's staff is reviewing 45,000-plus comments from AARP and other groups on the packaging proposal. The housing agency hopes to adopt final rules sanctioning guaranteed-fee packaging early next year.

But some high-profile trade groups are dead set against it. The 840,000-member National Association of Realtors considers guaranteed-cost packages "radical," "untested" and lacking in "consumer benefit." The same group, in language that has some consumer advocates shaking their heads in disbelief, says that "there is little or no data to confirm that large variances exist" between closing costs quoted in the "Good Faith Estimates" provided to loan applicants and what they're asked to pay at closing.

Other groups perplexed by the Realtors' opposition to the guaranteed-cost plan recalled that the association traditionally has endorsed packaging of real estate settlement services and has testified on Capitol Hill in favor of settlement-service "bundles" and "one-stop shopping."

The group's official comments include fears that by allowing "packagers" of services to escape current federal "anti-kickback" restrictions, consumers could be deprived of legal protections they now have.

Which other major real estate groups oppose guaranteed-cost settlement services? Tops on the list: the title insurance industry. The American Land Title Association questions HUD's statutory authority to create the packaging option, and worries that lenders will force title and settlement agencies to roll back their prices in order to be included in competitive packages.

Also in opposition: Appraisers fear that their fees will be pressured downward as the price of inclusion in settlement packages. Guaranteed-fee packages - aimed at delivering total transaction costs for less - would "impact many small appraisal businesses," a joint letter from appraisal groups said, and would encourage use of lower-cost valuation alternatives.

The outlook for the guaranteed-fee plan in 2003? Pretty good - unless politically powerful opponents can convince the new Congress that lowering costs for homeowners and refinancers is a bad idea.

Kenneth R. Harney is a syndicated columnist. His e-mail address is kharney@winstarmail.com. Send letters care of The Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071.