Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae has announced its intention to punish those borrowers who try to escape from paying mortgages they can afford. According to the company representative now the company will disqualify those “strategic defaulters” for 7 years for the new Fannie Mae-backed loans, reports USA TODAY.

The bill has already been submitted to the House for approval. If approved the Federal Housing Administration would be barred from insuring mortgages for the borrowers who had an opportunity but failed to pay.  

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange as their shares fell too below the minimum requirement of the exchange.

Freddie Mac's common stock, now unlisted, will trade under the symbol "FMCC." Investors will be able to trade Freddie Mac's 20 classes of preferred stock.

Fannie Mae's common stock will trade under the symbol "FNMA." Its preferred shares also will be listed.

American taxpayers who are at present about to pay some $145 billion in housing losses connected to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans may face higher bill to cover the debt of the mortgage giants.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the losses could balloon to $400 billion. And if housing prices fall further, the cost to the taxpayer could hit as much as $1 trillion.

According to WashingtonPost the Obama administration pledged Thursday to provide unlimited financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an eleventh-hour move that allows the government to exceed the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid without seeking permission from a bailout-weary Congress. 

The Christmas Eve announcement by the Treasury Department means that it can continue to run the companies, which were seized last year, as arms of the government for the rest of President Obama's current term.

 Fannie Mae announced about a deal to sell $2.6 billion in unused low-income-housing tax credits. The names of the buyers are not disclosed but the deal has been already approved by its federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, in a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 As The Wall Street Journal reported, Goldman Sachs Group Inc is in negotiations to purchase millions of dollars of tax credits from Fannie Mae. But the deal could be blocked by the U.S. Treasury. Goldman hopes to get approbation in the nearest days but the administration is cautious about approving a deal. The main apprehensions are caused by the fact that the deal would help the bank reduce its tax bill.