Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Single-Family Guarantee Fees in 2009 and 2010

摘要

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) buy single-family mortgages from mortgage companies, commercial banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions. In most cases, a lender receives mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in exchange for the loans. Each Enterprise guarantees the payment of principal and interest on its MBS and charges a fee for providing that guarantee. The guarantee fee covers projected credit losses from borrower defaults over the life of the loans, administrative costs, and a return on capital. Lender guarantee fee payments generally take the form of ongoing monthly payments and frequently also include an upfront payment at the time of Enterprise loan acquisition. Section 1601 of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) requires the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to conduct an ongoing study of the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to submit annual reports to Congress, based on aggregated data collected from the Enterprises, regarding the amount of such fees and the criteria used by the Enterprises to determine them. This report, the third prepared by FHFA in fulfillment of Section 1601, covers guarantee fees charged by the Enterprises in 2009 and 2010. The report focuses on fees charged by the Enterprises for guaranteeing conventional single-family mortgagesloans that are not insured or guaranteed by the federal government and that finance properties with four or fewer residential units.