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NEWS ABOUT: Freddie Mac

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$26B Mortgage Settlement a 'Modest' Help: Experts

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... More »

Freddie Mac Bet Billions Against Homeowners

Has financial stake in limiting refinancing for struggling people

(Newser) - Freddie Mac was designed to help homeowners—but in 2010 and 2011 it wagered billions against them. The company invested in security packages that meant more cash for Freddie when homeowners couldn't refinance their mortgages. But Freddie itself regulates refinancing—and in fact has been increasingly denying refinances to... More »

Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contract Released

Newt reported to a top lobbyist in one-year, $300K deal

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich made $25,000 a month working for Freddie Mac, where he reported to one of the company's leading lobbyists, according to his newly released contract with the mortgage giant. The 15 pages unveiled by Gingrich's former firm cover one year of his eight-year, $1.6-million relationship... More »

Gingrich: Sure, Release My Freddie Mac Records

Says it's up to his former firm

(Newser) - Mitt Romney is demanding that Newt Gingrich release records from his time at Freddie Mac—and Gingrich says that's no problem ... alas, it's out of his hands. He tells ABC News that it would be "very helpful" for his former firm to release his contract with Freddie... More »

Gingrich: Freddie Money Went to 'Overhead'

Romney steps up attacks on Gingrich: 'It's a duck'

(Newser) - Saying he wanted to "set the record straight," Newt Gingrich once again defended his work for Freddie Mac yesterday, now emphasizing that the $1.6 million he took in over six years went to his company, not into his pockets, and that he was mostly concerned with providing... More »

SEC Sues Ex- Fannie, Freddie CEOs

Firms wildly misrepresented exposure to subprime loans: feds

(Newser) - Federal regulators are suing former Fannie Mae boss Daniel Mudd and ex-Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron for vastly downplaying the volume of subprime loans their firms held. Freddie Mac suggested it was exposed to between $2 billion and $6 billion in subprime loans; the figure was more like $244 billion.... More »

Mitt: Newt Should Return Freddie Mac Money

Romney attacks Gingrich, again

(Newser) - Mitt Romney appears to have no plans to stop attacking new frontrunner Newt Gingrich. Asked on Fox News today whether he thinks Gingrich should return the $1.6 million he got from Freddie Mac , Romney said, "I sure do." He continued, "He says he was in the... More »

Newt's Freddie Deal: the Epitome of DC Slime

This was classic influence peddling, writes Timothy Egan

(Newser) - You can laugh off Newt Gingrich’s giant Tiffany’s account , or even his marital merry-go-round . But his cozy relationship with Freddie Mac “encapsulates why Washington is broken and how the powerful protect and enrich themselves, unanchored to basic principles,” writes Timothy Egan in the New York Times... More »

Freddie Mac Paid Gingrich $1.6M

But only for his 'strategic advice'

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich raked in somewhere between $1.6 million and $1.8 million over the course of an eight-year span consulting for Freddie Mac, sources tell Bloomberg —a far cry from the $300,000 he was asked about in last week’s CNBC debate. His main contact was the... More »

Fannie Mae Needs Another $7.8B

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... More »

10 Fannie, Freddie Execs Rake in $13M in Bonuses

Meanwhile, Fannie employees suspended amidst federal probe

(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac execs banked Wall Street-esque paychecks this year for meeting what Politico terms “modest performance targets” in modifying troubled mortgages. Ten top executives at the two firms received a combined $12.79 million in bonuses, agency records show, and that’s not counting a second... More »

Feds: Do-Nothing Fannie Mae Knew of Foreclosure Abuses in '03

But oversight will be 'tightened' by end of next year

(Newser) - Mortgage officials at Fannie Mae knew eight years ago of possibly illegal foreclosures by law firms they employed—but did nothing to stop them, according to a federal report. Fannie Mae's own investigation concluded that Florida attorneys were "routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits" to improperly foreclose on... More »

Feds Sue Big Banks Over Mortgages

US accuses them of dodging due diligence as crisis fallout spreads

(Newser) - The Federal Housing Finance Agency—the agency behind Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac—has filed suit against more than a dozen big banks for their role in the mortgage meltdown mess. The feds, seeking billions in compensation, accuse the banks of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities, reports the New ... More »

US May Let Millions Refinance at 4%

Proposal could save homeowners $85B annually

(Newser) - Help could be on the way for struggling homeowners with government-backed mortgages: The Obama administration is considering a proposal that would allow such homeowners to refinance their mortgages at today's interest rates, which hover around a low 4%. Many homeowners can’t currently refinance because they owe more than... More »

Obama Looks to Keep Feds in Mortgage Biz

Prez reportedly rejects calls to pull gov't out of housing market

(Newser) - Despite two White House proposals floated earlier in the year to get the federal government out of the housing market, President Obama will likely opt for the third option: reforming the housing market over the next decade but continuing to extend federal loan subsidies and insure most mortgages, reports the... More »

S&P Downgrades Fannie and Freddie, Too

And any other agencies linked to long-term US debt

(AP) - Standard & Poor's has downgrade fever. The ratings agency today downgraded the credit ratings of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a host of other agencies linked to long-term US debt, including farm lenders; long-term government-backed debt from 32 banks and credit unions; and three major clearinghouses,... More »

Home Prices Have Fallen 57 Months in a Row

Home values fell 3% in first quarter of 2011

(Newser) - There's still no sign of a housing market bottom, as continuing home foreclosures caused housing values to fall 3% in the first quarter of 2011 over the previous quarter, their biggest dive since late 2008, reports the Wall Street Journal . "We expected December and January to be bad,... More »

Fannie, Freddie Execs Improperly Paid Big Bucks

Government hasn't been transparent enough, report complains

(Newser) - The federal government has improperly paid the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac huge salaries while the housing giants have been under government control, the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency concludes in a new report. The CEOs were paid a total of $17.1 million in... More »

Treasury to Sell Off $142B in Toxic Assets, Make Billions

'Notably improved' market means $15B-$20B profit for taxpayers

(Newser) - The Treasury Department will start selling the $142 billion portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, the "toxic" assets it bought up during the financial crisis , the Wall Street Journal reports. The securities are mostly 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. And having bought the securities... More »

SEC Poised to Charge Fannie, Freddie Execs

But regulatory agency disagrees, and nothing has yet been filed

(Newser) - The SEC is making moves toward charging current and former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives, sources tell the Washington Post , but the Federal Housing Finance Agency disagrees with the move. The SEC has sent notices to at least four senior executives over the past eight weeks warning them they... More »

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