Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae, a $3 trillion financial services business, is a leading provider of mortgage credit. As a secondary market participant, we do not lend directly to consumers. We are a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress to keep liquidity flowing to mortgage lenders such as local and national banks, thrifts, credit unions, and other financial institutions. We purchase and guarantee their loans to enable families to buy homes, refinance their existing mortgages, or access affordable rental housing. We package loans into Fannie Mae mortgage backed securities (MBS), which global investors can purchase.

From the beginning of 2009 through the first quarter of 2012, we provided approximately $2.6 trillion in liquidity to the market. In our single-family business, this helped borrowers to refinance 7.4 million mortgages and purchase 2.1 million homes. In multifamily, we provided financing for more than 1.2 million units of quality rental housing – and more than 85 percent of those units were affordable to families earning at or below the median income in their area.