Pressure on Freddie Exec Was 'Relentless'

(NEWSER) - Acting Freddie Mac CFO David Kellerman was found dead this morning in what appears to have been a suicide, the Washington Post reports. Kellerman, 41, joined Freddie Mac as an analyst in 1992. He was promoted to CFO when the government took over Freddie last fall, but the company, which hemorrhaged billions as the mortgage market collapsed, has been publicly searching for a permanent replacement. More»

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»

Obama administration wants to get out of the mortgage market

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration will propose dissolving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reducing the federal government’s role in the mortgage market, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The White House is set to release three plans for moving forward without the government-owned mortgage giants, which originated nine out of every 10 loans last year. Advancing all three plans might prevent an all-out partisan brawl between conservatives, who blame Fannie and Freddie for the financial crisis, and liberals, who say borrowing costs will skyrocket without government help, according to one former Obama treasury official. More»

Americans spend $24.2 million to defend executives

(NEWSER) - Taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in fraud lawsuits since the government took over the companies in 2008. The closely guarded cost was released last week after Rep. Randy Neugebauer requested the figures last year. Some $132 million of the total went to defend Fannie Mae, mostly over lawsuits and accounting probes that occurred before the subprime crisis; $24.2 million was spent on the defense of three of the mortgage firm’s ex-bosses, the New York Times finds. And the payments continue. More»

US on track for 1M foreclosures this year

(AP) - Lenders took back more homes in August than any month since the start of the US mortgage crisis. The increase in home repossessions came even as the number of properties entering the foreclosure process slowed for the seventh month in a row, RealtyTrac said today. In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3% from July and an increase of 25% from August 2009. More»