freddie-mac

Freddie Mac Told To Stop Betting Against Struggling Homeowners
By Chris Morran on January 31, 2012 10:30 AM   28 Comments
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   10 Comments
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 »

(wmliu)

Refinancing Homeowners Are Ditching Variable-Rate Mortgages
By Marc Perton on November 16, 2011 4:45 PM   25 Comments
With mortgage rates close to record lows, 95% of refinancing homeowners are going with fixed-rate loans, according to Freddie Mac. More borrowers are also opting for shorter mortgages, with 40% of those who paid off a 30-year loan switching to a 15- or 20-year mortgage, the highest percentage since 2003. More »

(FutureAtlas.com)

4 Fannie Mae Staffers Placed On Administrative Leave Pending Investigation
By Ben Popken on October 31, 2011 3:00 PM   15 Comments
Four Fannie Mae staffers have been placed on administrative leave while federal investigators probe a series of foreclosed apartments the enterprise sold. More »

(stirwise)

Rules Changed To Make Refinancing Your Home Easier
By Chris Morran on October 24, 2011 3:15 PM   52 Comments
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 »

(shalf)

Freddie Mac Tells Bargain Hunters To Buzz Off
By Ben Popken on September 14, 2011 2:00 PM   48 Comments
Just because Freddie Mac has a glut of properties on its hands, buyers can't expect Costco prices. Most of the buyers approaching Freddie have been looking to buy at 40-60% off of market price, like the final weeks of a Borders liquidation sale. Instead, Freddie is sending them back this letter which says sorry, we're only taking less than 10% off. More »

(afagen)

Freddie Mac Wants $1.5 Billion From Taxpayers
By Phil Villarreal on August 9, 2011 9:00 AM   93 Comments
Apparently oblivious to the fact that the government is experiencing some financial problems, Freddie Mac says it needs to ask taxpayers for $1.5 billion to help it cover the net worth deficit it's plunged into thanks to the housing market bust. More »

(Spidra Webster)

Mortgage Rates Hit 4-Month Low
By Chris Morran on May 5, 2011 2:32 PM   33 Comments
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 »

(improbcat)

Is The 30-Year Mortgage On Death Row?
By Ben Popken on March 7, 2011 1:00 PM   116 Comments
Plans are in the works to dismantle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and that could mean that what many Americans had assumed came fourth after "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," the 30-year mortgage, could be on the outs. More »

What Risk Factors Will Make My Mortgage More Expensive?
By Chris Morran on January 18, 2011 4:30 PM   42 Comments
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 »

(martyz)

Citigroup Still Selling Mortgages That Violate Quality Standards
By Ben Popken on January 18, 2011 12:00 PM   26 Comments
15% of the mortgages Citigroup sold to government-owned Freddie Mac from the second half of 2009 and the first part of 2010 were riddled with flaws, according to an internal report obtained by Bloomberg. The error rate should be about 5%. The mistakes included missing insurance docs, missing appraisals and income miscalculations. More »

(So Cal Metro)

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   12 Comments
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 »

(retroroadmap.com)

Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae To Take A Break From Evicting During The Holidays
By Chris Morran on December 2, 2010 4:28 PM   15 Comments
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 »

(futureatlas.com)

Fannie Mae Requests Additional $8.4 Billion In Federal Aid
By Chris Morran on May 10, 2010 11:47 AM   8 Comments
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   47 Comments

—>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 application.  More »

Is The Federal Housing Administration Going To Need A Bailout?
By Chris Walters on October 8, 2009 9:13 PM   10 Comments

—>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   170 Comments

—>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   77 Comments

—>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   17 Comments

—>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 Tobin)  More »

Find Out If You Qualify For Mortgage Assistance
By Meg Marco on March 4, 2009 8:14 PM   112 Comments

—>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 »