Feds Outline Fannie, Freddie Bailout

Many struggling homeowners not covered in deal

(NEWSER) - The $26 billion mortgage settlement announced yesterday will be a boon for some—but the terms of the deal leave many homeowners out in the cold. Recipients of loans owned by the Federal Housing Administration, for instance, won't directly benefit from the settlement; nor will those with mortgages held by private investors, the New York Times reports. Millions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans—about half of America's mortgages—aren't part of the plan, either. More»

(NEWSER) - The White House’s National Economic Council will meet today to discuss a drastic overhaul of beleaguered nationalized mortgage dealers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Washington Post reports. Among other proposals, officials are contemplating a “good bank, bad bank” split. Fannie and Freddie would dump their troubled loans on a new, government-created company that would work to collect the outstanding balances, giving the mortgage giants a clean slate. More»

Ky.'s Bunning appears to have problem with Fannie/Freddie move

(NEWSER) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson saved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but now he may have to worry about saving his own job: One Republican senator called his policies socialist and recommended that he and Fed chief Ben Bernanke resign, Bloomberg reports. “They have taken the free market out of the free market,” said Jim Bunning of Kentucky. More»

Madcap weekend recasts Treasury Secretary in Clintonian mold

(NEWSER) - Henry Paulson had a very busy weekend. The treasury secretary had been formulating contingency plans for bailing out beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for weeks, but Friday’s crisis came before those plans were in place, the Wall Street Journal reports in a reconstruction of events leading to the rescue, culminating in the frenzied weekend scramble to negotiate the particulars with the Fed and Congress. More»

Taxpayer bill for mortgage firm's rescue now $94B

(NEWSER) - In a sign that the US housing market is still in deep, deep trouble, Fannie Mae is tapping the Treasury for another $7.8 billion to stay afloat. The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $5.1 billion for the third quarter of this year, its 16th loss in 17 quarters. The company has now cost the Treasury close to $94 billion in bailout funds since the government seized it three years ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»