Fannie Mae

Fannie mae's full name is Federal National Mortgage Association. Founded in the 1930s, this was privatized in the 1960s. Being a federally chartered corporation, Fannie mae is owned by shareholders and the objective of these shareholders is to guarantee that money would be available for Americans who dream of buying their home through mortgages. So, Fannie mae has a great, motivating public mission which is to make housing affordable for Americans and propel global capital to the local community to boost the housing market. But that doesn’t mean that you can call up Fannie mae and place a request to the loan officers at Fannie mae on the current going rate or such issues. If you are wondering why, the reason is that Fannie mae doesn't loan money to home buyers. As they rightly proclaim again and again, "Our job is to help those who house America."

Fannie mae was established during the time of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when it was a dream come true because millions of American families couldn’t even remotely imagine their own homes due to lack of supply in adequate mortgage funds throughout their country. Understanding the need to address the concerns of its citizens, the government established Fannie mae in order to ensure a smooth flow of mortgage funds for all communities for all times, irrespective of prevailing economic condition. With an enviable AAA rating, Fannie mae has limitless supply of capital at interest rates too.

Cynics haven’t been too kind about the politicization of Fannie mae. Starting with the fact that Fannie mae is exempt from regulations put forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the truth is that Fannie mae enjoys exemption from both state and local taxes.

Another aspect is that the U.S. president is the one who appoints several board members in Fannie mae while it is the U.S. Treasury Department that seals its approval on the debt issuance of Fannie Mae. Because of these factors, a section of people do believe that it has political interests that seem to be prevailing over and above the peoples’ interests.

But Fannie mae has several credits that are definitely praiseworthy such as their Office of Community and Charitable Giving which strives to align investments in the community for key areas. The main areas are to address the housing challenges through several housing and community development initiatives. Fannie mae spares no efforts whatsoever to put a final end to the problem of homelessness in the United States. This commitment to such a powerful social cause must be appreciated.

At Fannie mae, a lot of emphasis is placed on home-buyer education as the best way to assist consumers from falling victim to lending practices that are almost predatory. By ensuring that lenders provide the consumers with the required information resources, Fannie mae assists consumers greatly. This role of responsibility and leadership by working tirelessly throughout the country to propel effective solutions is definitely commendable.

In totality, it can be concluded that Fannie mae is a great help for American home buyers and consumers in getting access to the lowest cost mortgage which they would qualify for.