Freddie Mac

Short sales routinely show up in credit reports as foreclosures

2013-05-17 20:20:00

WASHINGTON — Are large numbers of homeowners who have negotiated short sales with lenders at risk because of a startling omission in the American credit system? Do their credit reports and scores indicate that they were foreclosed upon, rather...

Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates rise; average 30-year loan at 3.51%

2013-05-16 08:54:00

Mortgage rates rose this week, with a widely watched survey reporting that lenders were offering 30-year fixed-rate loans at an average of 3.51%, up from a near-record low of 3.35% two weeks ago. The survey, released Thursday by mortgage financier...

Lew says Fannie Mae payment helps delay debt limit until Labor Day

2013-05-10 07:02:00

WASHINGTON -- A nearly $60-billion dividend payment to the government by taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae will help push off the effective date on which the U.S. would hit its debt limit until at least Labor Day, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said Friday....

Fannie Mae to pay U.S. $59.4 billion after record quarterly profit

2013-05-09 08:05:00

WASHINGTON -- Bailed-out housing finance giant Fannie Mae said Thursday it would pay the U.S. government $59.4 billion after posting a record profit for the first three months of the year. The fortunes of the company, which is 80% owned by taxpayers...

Mortgage rates tick up, Freddie Mac says: 30-year fixed at 3.42%

2013-05-09 08:30:00

Fixed mortgage rates have reversed course and ticked upward, with lenders offering 30-year home loans at an average of 3.42% compared with 3.35% last week, according to the latest Freddie Mac survey. The typical rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage rose...

Freshman senator with senior pluck takes on the financial industry

2013-05-10 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the newest member of the Senate Banking Committee, waited patiently for her first chance to question top financial regulators at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. When her turn finally came after 90 minutes,...

Loan underwriters make 'absurd' demands in effort to verify data

2013-05-03 00:00:00

Did you hear about the loan underwriter who demanded a letter from the borrower's doctor stating the borrower had been healed and his illness would not come back? How about the underwriter who wanted a verification of employment from the borrower who...

Obama nominates new heads of FCC and federal housing agency

2013-05-01 12:25:00

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Wednesday nominated new heads of the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, saying they would both help expand the economy. Obama tapped venture capitalist Thomas Wheeler to replace...

Freddie Mac: 30-year mortgage rate dips to 3.35%, near a record low

2013-05-02 08:10:00

The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate dropped this week to an average of 3.35%, its lowest rate in four months and within a whisper of its record low of 3.31% in fall, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The 15-year fixed mortgage, popular with homeowners...

Lenders venturing back into subprime market

2013-04-27 05:00:00

Michele and Russell Poland's credit was shot, but they managed to buy their suburban dream home anyway. After a business bankruptcy and a home foreclosure, they turned to a rare option in this era of tightfisted banking — a subprime loan. The...

Obama nominates Rep. Mel Watt to head Housing Finance Agency

2013-05-02 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated Democratic Rep. Mel Watt to be the top regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, moving to replace a career bureaucrat who has been sharply criticized by liberals for not doing more to help troubled homeowners....

Obama to nominate Democratic Rep. Mel Watt to head housing agency

2013-05-01 08:54:00

WASHINGTON -- President Obama will nominate Democratic Rep. Mel Watt to head the federal housing agency that oversees taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official said Wednesday. Watt, an 11-term congressman from North Carolina,...

The number of borrowers using a federal program to refinance their underwater loans surged last year. Pictured are the headquarters of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

2013-02-19 09:43:08

Freddie Mac's weekly survey showed the 30-year mortgage rate jumping from 3.42% a week ago to 3.53%.

2013-01-03 09:24:11

A home-refinancing boom is producing large gains for banks as they sell mortgages to the government-supported financial giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

2012-12-04 18:14:42