Fannie Mae

Established in 1968, Fannie Mae provides financial products and services that make it possible for low, moderate, and middle income families to buy homes of their own. It has helped more than 60 million families achieve homeownership. Fannie Mae is a part of the United States housing industry. The company ensures that mortgage funds are consistently available and affordable by buying mortgages from a variety of institutions that do lend money directly to homebuyers. The lenders with whom it does business are part of the primary mortgage market, and include mortgage companies, commercial banks, credit unions, and state and local housing finance agencies. Fannie Mae also operates in the secondary mortgage market. It pays cash for mortgages that it buys from lenders, holds those mortgages in the company s portfolio, and issues mortgage-backed securities in exchange for pools of mortgages from lenders. Fannie Mae is headquartered in Washington, D.C.