Fannie Mae

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Employee Says She Was Hired for Sex Under Guise of IT Job

Soleil Bonnin is suing Fannie Mae for $20M

(Newser) - A Fannie Mae employee says she thought she was hired to work in the mortgage company's IT department but was instead expected to act as the personal plaything of a senior director, CNN reports. Soleil Bonnin is seeking $20 million in damages from Fannie Mae, which she sued this...

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...

FHFA: $600K Not Enough for Fannie, Freddie CEOs

Agency says better compensation needed to attract, keep top talent

(Newser) - Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton and Fannie Mae CEO Tim Mayopoulos each earn a base salary of $600,000, plus money added to their retirement plans, under a 2012 salary cap put in place by the regulatory Federal Housing Finance Agency, Politico reports. But that may not be enough to...

The 3% Mortgage Down Payment Is Back

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac hope to spur homebuying among first-time purchasers

(Newser) - Apparently Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac feel enough time has passed since the subprime mortgage crisis : The government-supported mortgage guarantors say they'll back mortgages with as little as a 3% down payment, CNN Money reports. Both agencies hope to encourage first-time homebuyers who may be having a hard time...

Pricier in 2014: Mortgages
 Pricier in 2014: Mortgages 
Dec 18, 2013 10:48 AM CST

Pricier in 2014: Mortgages

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to increase fees

(Newser) - An effort to loosen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's grip on the mortgage market will come at a price: pricier mortgages. The two announced late Monday that, at the insistence of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, they will increase their fees to borrowers without impeccable credit (designated as those...

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,...

Bank of America Agrees to $10B Fannie Mae Settlement
Big Banks Agree to $8.5B
in Mortgage Settlement
UPDATED
Jan 7, 2013 10:57 AM CST

Big Banks Agree to $8.5B in Mortgage Settlement

Banks agree to $8.5B deal with regulators, as BofA gives Fannie $10B

(Newser) - A group of 10 major lenders has agreed to pay federal regulators $8.4 billion to settle claims of foreclosure "robo-signings" and other abuses, the New York Times reports. Among the lenders onboard are JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America. About $3.3 billion of that will go...

Feds Eye a Fresh Round of Mortgage Relief

Refinancing could take on loans not backed by Fannie, Freddie

(Newser) - The White House is looking to roll out a fresh round of refinancing, this time adding mortgages that aren't backed by the government, reports the Wall Street Journal . Some 22% of mortgages—about 10.8 million—exceeded the value of the homes they backed in June, down sharply from...

Forget Execs: Fannie-Freddie Middle Managers Earn $205K+

About 1/6 of their workforce is making big bucks

(Newser) - If wild executive pay makes your list of "things to be depressed about," steel yourself: A new report on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will add the non-executive class to your register of woes. The inspector general's report, out today, looks at the 2011 pay of senior...

US Sues Bank of America for $1B in 'Hustle' Scheme

Prosecutors says bank foisted bum mortgages on Fannie, Freddie

(Newser) - The Justice Department has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Bank of America over an alleged mortgage scheme known as the "Hustle" invented by its Countrywide unit. According to Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, Bank of America and Countrywide developed a procedure to rapidly generate thousands of toxic loans...

Wall Street May Soon Be Your Landlord

Fannie Mae mulls bulk sales that would turn homes into rentals

(Newser) - Wall Street firms may soon have a new gig: landlord. A number of them are looking into getting directly involved in real estate, buying up foreclosed properties from Fannie Mae in bulk, reports the Wall Street Journal . They couldn't then flip the houses—per the deal, they would rent...

Why It's Better to Default on a $1M Mortgage
Why It's Better
to Default on a $1M Mortgage
analysis
Feb 28, 2012 11:51 AM CST

Why It's Better to Default on a $1M Mortgage

Deadbeats stay in pricey homes up to 6 months longer

(Newser) - If you've fallen behind on your mortgage payments, here's hoping you live in a million-dollar home, because odds are the bank will wait a lot longer to kick you out. Borrowers who default on loans of $1 million or more get to stay in their homes an average...

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...

$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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

Feds Poised to Sue Banks Over Mortgages


 Feds Sue 
 Big Banks 
 Over Mortgages 
UPDATED
Sep 2, 2011 4:18 PM CDT

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 ...

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...

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