Posts about Freddie Mac

Freddie Mac Told To Stop Betting Against Struggling Homeowners
By Chris Morran on January 31, 2012 10:30 AM  
Yesterday, it was reported that bailed-out mortgage titan Freddie Mac had invested billions in mortgage-backed securities that would really only pay off if struggling homeowners were unable to refinance their high-interest mortgages; investments that appear to put Freddie in direct conflict with its goal of making it easier to own a home. Now the federal regulators in control of Freddie Mac say they have already put a halt to these trades. More »

Freddie Mac Sorta Hoping You Can't Refinance Your Pricey Mortgage
By Chris Morran on January 30, 2012 12:15 PM  
Even though the job of bailed-out mortgage backer Freddie Mac is supposed to be about making it easier to own a home, the traders at Freddie have reportedly been buying up investments that put the company at odds with homeowners who want to refinance their pricey mortgages. More »

Rules Changed To Make Refinancing Your Home Easier
By Chris Morran on October 24, 2011 3:15 PM  
With mortgage interest rates continuing to hover near record lows, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced big changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program with the intention of making it easier for homeowners to save money by refinancing their loans at these rock-bottom rates. More »

30-Year Mortgage Rates Now Lowest Ever, People Still Aren't Buying
By Chris Morran on August 18, 2011 1:50 PM  
It's like that scene in Groundhog Day, where Chris Elliott's character enters the Punxsutawney bachelor auction and is greeted by dead silence from the women in the crowd.... Once again, mortgage rates have dropped to record lows while potential home buyers continue to hold off on making a purchase. More »

Mortgage Rates Hit 4-Month Low
By Chris Morran on May 5, 2011 2:32 PM  
For those potential home-buyers with enough money for a down payment, it looks like you may want to start scanning the real estate listings. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages has hit a four-month low. More »

Amazon Named Most Reputable Large American Company, Freddie Mac The Least
By Phil Villarreal on April 7, 2011 4:30 PM  
According to the consulting firm Reputation Institute, Amazon is the most reputable company in the United States and Freddie Mac is the least. More »

SEC May Go After Former Freddie Mac Chief
By Phil Villarreal on March 16, 2011 10:30 AM  
The Securities and Exchange Commission may file a civil action against former Freddie Mac chief executive as it concludes an investigation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's disclosure practices. More »

What Risk Factors Will Make My Mortgage More Expensive?
By Chris Morran on January 18, 2011 4:30 PM  
When you're in the market to buy a new home or investment property, it's one thing to get a pre-qualification over the phone and a completely different thing when you later sit down and actually apply for a loan. So before you get too far into the process, you should know which factors could end up inflating the interest rate on your mortgage. More »

Bank Of America Reaches $2.8 Billion Settlement With Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Over Bad Mortgages
By Chris Morran on January 3, 2011 11:20 AM  
The folks at Bank of America continue to feel the sting of all the bad mortgages they acquired when they adopted Countrywide in 2008. The bank has agreed to pay a total of over $2.8 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims over questionable loans sold to the two government-sponsored enterprises. More »

Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae To Take A Break From Evicting During The Holidays
By Chris Morran on December 2, 2010 4:28 PM  
There are few things as depressing as having your house taken away from you on Christmas Eve, so the people at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are issuing a brief moratorium on evicting people from foreclosed properties during the holiday season. More »

(ash™)

Man Caught In Deed-In-Lieu Of Foreclosure Hell
By Ben Popken on October 6, 2010 5:00 PM  
Since he had to get rid of his house and move to take advantage of some new opportunities, Joe has been working for months to get Chase to accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure on his condo in Chicago. A deed-in-lieu is when you hand over your house to the bank rather than go through a normal foreclosure process that is lengthy and costly for both parties. He met the requirements and began his descent into hell, full of lost paperwork, unreturned calls, and missed deadlines, despite contacting the executive offices of Chase, Freddie Mac, and Chase Home lending. Finally he catches a break, only to have his hopes snatched away again at the last moment... More »

Fannie Mae Requests Additional $8.4 Billion In Federal Aid
By Chris Morran on May 10, 2010 11:47 AM  
While bailed-out banks and car companies are making headway toward repaying their loans in full, it's a completely different story for mortgage investment firm Fannie Mae. After posting a quarterly loss of $11.5 billion, Fannie Mae has announced it will need another $8.4 billion from its federal overseers government aid. More »

How A Disputed Item On Your Credit Report Can Screw Up Your Home Loan
By Chris Walters on October 26, 2009 11:17 PM  

—>Thanks to federal regulations, when you dispute an account on your credit report and the dispute is resolved in your favor, the credit reporting agency is required to remove or correct the account. Credit reporting agencies often don't do this, though, and the Washington Post notes that it can come back and interfere with your next home loan applicationMore »

Is The Federal Housing Administration Going To Need A Bailout?
By Chris Walters on October 8, 2009 9:13 PM  

—>Earlier today a former Fannie Mae exec and the current head of the FHA gave conflicting testimonies to Congress about the health of the mortgage insurer—particularly about whether or not it's going to require a taxpayer bailout in the next couple of years.  More »

Acting CFO Of Freddie Mac Found Dead This Morning
By Chris Walters on April 22, 2009 1:25 PM  

—>David Kellermann, a former Freddie Mac senior vice president who had been serving as the acting chief financial officer of the mortgage buying company since its takeover by the federal government last September, was found "hanging in the basement of his Reston home, dead from an apparent suicide" early this morning. Police were called to his home by someone inside the house at about 5 am today and found Kellermann's body.  More »

Fannie And Freddie To Pay $210 Million In Retention Bonuses
By Carey Alexander on April 5, 2009 2:00 PM  

—>Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are preparing to hand out $210 million in taxpayer-funded retention bonuses to 7,600 employees. No bonus will exceed $1.5 million, but more than half of all Freddie and Fannie employees will receive an average bonus exceeding $24,000.  More »

Fannie And Freddie Can Foreclose Again
By Ben Popken on April 3, 2009 5:23 PM  

—>Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can foreclose on people's houses again. There was much fanfare when they were banned from doing so back in December, but not a peep on March 31st when the moratorium ended. Funny, that. [The Washington Independent] (Photo: Colin TobinMore »

Find Out If You Qualify For Mortgage Assistance
By Meg Marco on March 4, 2009 8:14 PM  

—>The Obama Administration announced new details about its massive foreclosure relief program — and the Washington Post says that it includes a refinancing program for homeowners with little equity in their homes, but who otherwise would be able to refinance. The Post has a quick interactive tool that will help you to determine whether or not you qualify for the program.   More »

6 months was enough for Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer David Moffett. He's outta here. [PortfolioMore »

What's In This New Obama Foreclosure Plan?
By Alex Chasick on February 18, 2009 5:51 PM  

—>With the economic stimulus (or "e-stim," as we've been calling it) signed into law, President Obama turns his attention to the foreclosure crisis. At an event in Arizona today, he announced the following proposals to help homeowners.  More »

Consumerist's Top 10 Business Debacles Of The Year 2008
By Meg Marco on December 16, 2008 10:10 PM  

—>As is our habit, we provided Ad Age with a list of our Top 10 Business Debacles of the Year. Are you ready for the pain?  More »

Fannie, Freddie Announce New Loan Mod Plans For Borrowers 90+ Days Overdue
By Ben Popken on November 11, 2008 8:17 PM  

—>The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced plans for allowing Fannie and Freddie to modify more of their loans. The mods will lower interest rates or lengthen the repayment schedule with the goal of bringing payments below 38% of household income. To qualify, borrowers must:  More »

FBI Investigating Failed, Bailed, Financial Firms
By Ben Popken on September 24, 2008 12:51 AM  

—>The FBI has launched a fraud probe into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG. Sounds kinda like a move to placate the masses. "We're on it." No doubt in response to the seething outrage sweeping the nation over the size and audacity of the bailouts, however needed they might be. Sounds like an easy job. Sorta like dipping your hand in a barrel of ink and trying to pull up black stuff.  More »

Feds Snip Fannie, Freddie Golden Parachutes
By Ben Popken on September 15, 2008 1:45 PM  

—>The government said yesterday that it would forbid Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from paying their fired CEOs their separation payments or "golden parachutes." Experts estimate they were together up for $25 million. Political pressure had been mounting, with calls from both presidential candidates and other lawmakers to limit the departing execs' compensation. Coupling this with the news about the Fed not bailing out Lehman Brothers means only one thing, we've entered the funnest part of the sub-prime aftermath, the punishment phase!  More »

Nobody Panic: Government Seizes Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae
By Carey Alexander on September 6, 2008 9:45 PM  

—>Oh dear, all that talk about Freddie and Fannie being "adequately capitalized" was utter bullshit and the government has now announced plans to place the failed government sponsored enterprises into conservatorship. That means the fate of the housing market and the global economy rest squarely on the shoulders of U.S. taxpayers.  More »

Not Good: Fannie Mae Loses $2.3 Billion
By Meg Marco on August 8, 2008 4:20 PM  

—>Fannie Mae is the nation's largest mortgage finance company and it's just not doing too well, says the AP. Increasing losses from foreclosures are wiping out Fannie's revenue.   More »

Beware The "Fannie Mae" Prize Draw Scam
By Ben Popken on July 30, 2008 7:59 PM  

—>Scammers love to tap into national trends to put a new face on an old scam, and the "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Equity Prize Draw" scam spotted by the Louisville, KY BBB is no exception.  More »

Bush Signs Massive Mortgage Relief Bill
By Meg Marco on July 30, 2008 2:29 PM  

—>President Bush signed a massive mortgage relief bill that will help hundreds of thousands of homeowners refinance their unaffordable mortgages into fixed rate government backed loans rather than lose their homes to foreclosure. The bill also put tighter reigns on Freddie and Fannie, says the Associated Press.  More »

U.S. Treasury Attempts To Save Freddie, Fannie, Avert Apocalypse
By Meg Marco on July 14, 2008 5:32 PM  

—>This Sunday the Bush administration asked Congress to approve a "rescue package" that would give officials the ability to inject "billions of federal dollars" into Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The Federal Reserve also announced that it would make its short-term lending programs available to Freddie and Fannie, said the NYT.   More »

Bush Administration Considering A Takeover Of Freddie And Fanny
By Meg Marco on July 11, 2008 4:05 PM  

—>Freddie and Fanny lost about half of their value overnight as investors became more certain that the government was going to have to bail out the two GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises.) The New York Times says that senior members of the Bush administration are considering a takeover of Freddie and Fannie that would leave their shares "worth little or nothing," and where taxpayers would pay "any losses on mortgages they own or guarantee."  More »

Mortgages Of The Apocalypse: Are Freddie And Fannie Going To Collapse?
By Meg Marco on July 10, 2008 5:05 PM  

—>Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the "government sponsored" enterprises that are supposed to bail us out of the current mortgage crisis, may be in danger of collapsing, according to William Poole, the former president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, who told Bloomberg the companies are already "insolvent."  More »

Consumers Are "Unaware" That Lenders Can Help Them Avoid Foreclosure
By Meg Marco on January 31, 2008 9:14 PM  

—>A new survey from Freddie Mac says that 57% of delinquent homeowners are unaware of so-called "workout" options that could help them avoid foreclosure.   More »

Freddie Mac Will Be Losing A Few Billion More, Decides To Stop Buying So Many Bad Loans
By Meg Marco on December 12, 2007 12:13 AM  
"If I were you, I would want in this time period someone running one of these companies (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) to err on the side of pessimism rather than optimism," he said.
Hey, good point.   More »

Freddie Mac Loses $2 Billion, Needs Cash
By Meg Marco on November 20, 2007 5:27 PM  

—>Government-sponsored mortgage lender Freddie Mac, the second largest U.S. mortgage company, posted a $2 billion loss for the third quarter and warned that it may not have enough cash to cover its mortgage commitments.  More »

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