Federal Housing Finance Agency

10 Stories

Judge Sums Up Banks' 2008 Behavior in 8 Words

'The magnitude of falsity, conservatively measured, is enormous'

(Newser) - If you had to name two banks guilty of selling lousy mortgage packages during the financial meltdown of 2008, it's doubtful you'd tick off the names Nomura Holdings of Japan and the Royal Bank of Scotland. But as Reuters reports, a federal judge yesterday declared that both lied...

Feds Look to Deep-Six 'Forced' Home Insurance

Banks benefit from practice that has gouged millions

(Newser) - Since 2009, some six million "force-placed" home insurance policies have been written—expensive policies that hit homeowners if their original plans fall through, for instance, because they've fallen behind on payments. But these "forced" policies can cost up to 10 times as much as the original plans,...

Taxpayers Have Paid Millions to Defend Fannie Execs

FHFA has spent $37M on accused fraudsters since takeover

(Newser) - The US government has sunk almost $100 million into defending a trio of ex-Fannie Mae executives accused of securities fraud, including $37 million since the government took control of the firm, according to a regulatory analysis released today. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is on the hook for those costs...

Obama Unveils New Mortgage Relief Plan

Rules could help additional 1.6 million homeowners

(Newser) - President Barack Obama offered mortgage relief today to hundreds of thousands of Americans, his latest attempt to ease the economic and political fallout of a housing crisis that has bedeviled him as he seeks a second term. "I'm here to say that we can't wait for an...

Feds Poised to Sue Banks Over Mortgages


 Feds Sue 
 Big Banks 
 Over Mortgages 
UPDATED

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 ...

Fannie, Freddie Execs Improperly Paid Big Bucks
Fannie, Freddie Execs Improperly Paid Big Bucks
says report

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...

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...

Fannie, Freddie to Pay $210M in Bonuses

(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expect to pay roughly $210 million in retention bonuses over the next 18 months, reports the Wall Street Journal. Some 7,600 employees are slated to get bonuses, in some cases totaling as much as $1.5 million, in a program that has drawn sharp...

Don't Blame Fannie for Mess
 Don't Blame Fannie for Mess 



Glossies

Don't Blame Fannie for Mess

Wall Street, banks, and government also at fault

(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the "toxic twin" housing financing behemoths blamed for setting the world on fire, were not operating any differently than the entire financial sector, Bethany McLean writes in Vanity Fair. McLean documents Fannie Mae's history starting from conception in FDR's New Deal, when it was...

Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay
 Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay 

Fannie Mae: Tenants Can Stay

Fannie Mae won't evict tenants after foreclosures

(Newser) - Fannie Mae is offering to sign new leases with renters living in properties that have been foreclosed and are now owned by the the government-controlled mortgage company. The move brings relief to thousands of people caught in the mortgage crisis, but it turns the insitution into a huge national landlord...

10 Stories