The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
Fannie Mae Wants Another Multi-Billion Taxpayer #Bailout
https://t.co/HjKRaGi2Vf#usa— Infinite Unknown (@SecretNews) February 16, 2018
H/t reader squodgy:
“Well….that worked well….”
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– New York Times Reports – “Fannie and Freddie are Back, Bigger and Badder Than Ever” (Liberty Blitzkrieg, July 22, 2015):
Just in case you still harbored any doubt that absolutely zero lessons were learned from the cataclysmic financial collapse of 2008/09. We learn from the New York Times that:
AFTER the financial crisis of 2008, there was one thing that almost everyone agreed on. The government-sponsored mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had to go. While shareholders and executives reaped the profits from Fannie and Freddie in good times, taxpayers were stuck with the bill in a crisis. President Obama described their dysfunctional business model as “Heads we win, tails you lose.” But here we are, seven years after the crisis, and nothing has changed.
Read moreNew York Times Reports – “Fannie and Freddie are Back, Bigger and Badder Than Ever”
– Government Hints Fannie/Freddie Would Need Another Bailout If Conditions Deteriorate (ZeroHedge, March 19, 2015):
FHFA finds that the GSEs might well need billions more in taxpayer dollars in the event of a downturn, suggesting the deck may be stakced against those the companies’ common.
…
– If At First You Fail Miserably & Blow Up The Financial System, Do It Again! (ZeroHedge, Dec 9, 2014):
Here we go again! Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have now officially approved 3% down payment mortgages. Having government entities provide low down payment mortgages to people who can’t afford to buy a house is always a good move. Keynesians like Krugman approve wholeheartedly. The housing market will get a nice boost and the working taxpayers will fund the bad debt through Fannie and Freddie. You own Fannie and Freddie. Everyone wins. In case you forgot, the closing costs to sell a house are usually 8% of the home price. So these home buyers are immediately 5% underwater when they move in… “Sometimes I can’t believe I live in a world this f##ked up. And no one notices and no one cares.”
…
– Mel Watt, Federal Housing Finance Agency Head, is Pushing Banks to Make Extremely Risky Home Loans (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Oct 16, 2014):
Mel Watt is one of the most dangerous financial oligarch puppets operating in America today. The first time he came across my radar screen was back in 2009, when he “gutted” Ron Paul’s End the Fed bill while it was in subcommittee, something I outlined in the post: Leverage in PE Deals Soars Despite Fed Warnings; Amidst Insatiable Demand for Risky Fannie Mae Debt.
Read moreFederal Housing Finance Agency Head Is Pushing Banks To Make Extremely Risky Home Loans
– Bank Of America Caught Frontrunning Clients (ZeroHedge, Jan 25, 2014):
Every time a TBTF bank releases its 10-Q, we head straight for the section, usually well over 100 pages in, that discloses the bank’s total profitable trading days.
This is what the most recent Bank of America 10-Q said on this topic:
The histogram below is a graphic depiction of trading volatility and illustrates the daily level of trading-related revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2013 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2013 and March 31, 2013. During the three months ended September 30, 2013, positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 97 percent, or 62 trading days, of which 69 percent (44 days) were daily trading gains of over $25 million and the largest loss was $21 million. These results can be compared to the three months ended June 30, 2013, where positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 89 percent, or 57 trading days, of which 67 percent (43 days) were daily trading gains of over $25 million and the largest loss was $54 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2013, positive trading-related revenue was recorded for 100 percent, or 60 trading days, of which 97 percent (58 days) were daily trading gains over $25 million.
– US Gov’t Takes Bank Of America To Court And Wins, Jury Finds Countrywide Liable For Fraud (Forbes, Oct 23, 2013):
Thought those mortgage lawsuits against banks were winding down? Think again.
Today a jury found Bank of America liable for defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when its Countrywide unit sold it bad mortgages.
The jury also found former Countrywide executive, Rebecca Mairone, liable on the one fraud charge facing her, Reuters reports.
The verdict is a win for the US government as this is one of the few cases stemming from the financial crisis that it’s taken to trial.
“In a rush to feed at the trough of easy mortgage money on the eve of the financial crisis, Bank of America purchased Countrywide, thinking it had gobbled up a cash cow. That profit, however, was built on fraud, as the jury unanimously found,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Justice is looking to get a $848 million out of BofA.
Read moreBank Of America Liable For Fraud, DOJ ‘Is Looking To Get $848 Million’
– ALL IS WELL!!! (The Burning Platform, Feb 6, 2013)
– 10 banks agree to pay $8.5B for foreclosure abuse (AP, Jan 7, 2013):
WASHINGTON — Ten major banks agreed Monday to pay $8.5 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes.
The banks, which include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, will pay billions to homeowners to end a review process of foreclosure files that was required under a 2011 enforcement action. The review was ordered because banks mishandled people’s paperwork and skipped required steps in the foreclosure process.
The settlement was announced jointly by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve.
Separately, Bank of America agreed Monday to pay $11.6 billion to government-backed mortgage financier Fannie Mae to settle claims related to mortgages that soured during the housing crash.
Read more10 Banks Agree To Pay $8.5 BIllion For Foreclosure Abuse
– Marc Faber: “Paul Krugman Should Go And Live In North Korea” (ZeroHedge, Dec 13, 2012):
If there is one thing better than Marc Faber providing a free, must-watch (and listen) 50 minute lecture on virtually everything that has transpired in the end days of modern capitalism, starting with who caused it, adjustable rate mortgages, leverage, why did the Fed let Lehman fail, why was AIG bailed out, quantitative easing, Operation Twist, where the interest on the debt is going, which bubbles he is most concerned about, a discussion of gold and silver, and culminating with his views on a world reserve currency, is him saying the following: “The views of the Keynesians like Mr. Krugman is that the fiscal deficits are far too small. One of the problems of the crisis is that it was caused by government intervention with fiscal and monetary measures. Now they tells us we didn’t intervene enough. If they really believe that they should go and live in North Korea where you have a communist system. There the government intervenes into every aspect of the economy. And look at the economic performance of North Korea.” Priceless.
50 minutes of Faberian bliss:
– US Treasury Admits It Conducted A Circular Ponzi Scheme For Years (ZeroHedge, Aug 17, 2012):
While one may wonder about the implications of the just announced “accelerated windown” of the GSEs, predicated in no small part by the surge in animosity between Tim Geithner and the FHFA’s Ed DeMarco, there is one aspect of the announcement that is completely and utterly unambigious: as part of its justification to demand faster liquidation of Fannie and Freddie’s “investment portfolio” Tim Geithner gave the following argument:
This will help achieve several important objectives, including… Ending the circular practice of the Treasury advancing funds to the GSEs simply to pay dividends back to Treasury
In other words not some fringe blog, not some “partisan” media outlet, not some morally conflicted whistleblowing former employee seeking immunity, but the US Trasury itself just admitted it had been engaged in circular check kiting scheme, which essentially has all the components of a Ponzi scheme in it, ever since the nationalization (about which there is no now doubt and which means the GSE’s $6 trillion in debt is now fully on the Treasury’s balance sheet) of Fannie and Freddie in 2008.
Transfer one more conspiracy theory into the conspiracy fact bin.
YouTube Added: 13.06.2012
The article below is from Oct. 21. This is from CNN Money, Nov. 15:
– Fannie, Freddie Need More Money (FOX Business/Reuters, Oct. 21, 2011):
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need as much as $215 billion in additional capital from the Treasury through 2013 to offset losses and maintain a positive net worth, their federal regulator said on Thursday.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose programs fund the lion’s share of all new home loans, are at the center of debate as Congress sets to overhaul a U.S. mortgage finance system that contributed to the worst housing crisis since the 1930s.
The cumulative capital needs of the two housing finance giants, which were seized by the government in late 2008, will likely fall between $221 billion and $363 billion through 2013, the Federal Housing Finance Agency estimated.
Read moreFannie Mae And Freddie Mac Need Up To $215 Billion In Taxpayers Money Through 2013
See also:
– Black Hole Fannie Mae Asks Taxpayers For Another $7.8 BILLION To Cover Its Losses In Third Quarter:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is asking the federal government for $7.8 billion in aid to cover its losses in the July-September quarter.
– Fannie, Freddie execs score $100 million payday (CNN Money, Nov. 15, 2011):
NEW YORK — Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received the biggest federal bailout of the financial crisis. And nearly $100 million of those tax dollars went to lucrative pay packages for top executives, filings show.
The top five executives at Fannie Mae received $33.3 million in 2009 and 2010, while the top five at Freddie Mac received $28.1 million. And each company has set pay targets of as much as $17 million for its top managers for 2011.
That’s a total of $95.4 million, which will essentially be coming from taxpayers, who have been keeping the mortgage finance giants alive with regular quarterly cash infusions since the Federal Home Finance Agency (FHFA) took control of the companies in September 2008.
Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Halderman, each received about $5.5 million in pay for last year, and they could receive more when their final deferred compensation for 2010 is set. All the executives receive a significant portion of their pay in the year or years after they earn it.
Consider this:
– Fannie Mae Knew About Toxic Mortgages in 2003!
– 97 Percent Of All US Mortgages Are Backed By The Government
– Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Worst Case Scenario Is $1 Trillion!
– Tickerguy On Dylan Ratigan Show – Massive Fraud At The Highest Levels!
– Report: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bailouts Could Hit $363 Billion
– Bank of America: Thrilled to Pay $3 Billion Penalty – Freddie Mac Putbacks Resolved for 1¢ on $
– US Taxpayers on Hook for $5 Trillion of Fannie, Freddie Debt … No Matter What Barney Frank Says
– Fannie Mae loss widens, asks taxpayers for $7.8B (AP, Nov 8, 2011):
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is asking the federal government for $7.8 billion in aid to cover its losses in the July-September quarter.
The government-controlled company said Tuesday that it lost $7.6 billion in the third quarter. Low mortgage rates reduced profits and declining home prices caused more defaults on loans it had guaranteed.
The government rescued Fannie Mae and sibling company Freddie Mac in September 2008 to cover their losses on soured mortgage loans. Since then, a federal regulator has controlled their financial decisions.
Taxpayers have spent about $169 billion to rescue Fannie and Freddie, the most expensive bailout of the 2008 financial crisis. The government estimates that figure could reach up $220 billion to support the companies through 2014 after subtracting dividend payments.
– Could they have stopped the credit crunch? Fannie Mae knew about dodgy mortgages in 2003, says report (Daily Mail, Oct. 4, 2011):
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae knew about allegations of improper foreclosure practices by law firms as early as 2003 but did not act to stop them, a government watchdog has said.
But it wasn’t until mid-2010 before the company’s overseer began to scrutinise the conduct of some of the law firms when news reports emerged of dubious practices, a report revealed today.
An unnamed shareholder warned Fannie Mae of alleged foreclosure abuses in 2003, the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said in the report.
Fannie Mae responded by hiring a law firm to investigate the claims in 2005, which reported it had found foreclosure attorneys in Florida ‘routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits’ the following year.
– It’s Time to Bring Our Mortgages Home – Your Municipality and Community Venture Fund is the Ideal Investor for Fannie, Freddie & FHA Defaulted Mortgages (Solari, August 29, 2011):
By Catherine Austin Fitts (in the first person) and Carolyn Betts
The Administration is now proposing the transfer of significant defaulted mortgages and foreclosed properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) to large national institutional investors.
A Huge Housing Bargain — but Not for You
The Street (18 Aug 11)White House Seeks Ideas to Shrink Foreclosure Glut
Catherine, News & Commentary (11 Aug 11)Enterprise/FHA REO Asset Disposition (PDF)
RFIFinal (10 Aug 11)Such a transfer is not economic — other than for the large investors and to serve a wider agenda of social control and engineering, including gentrification of numerous areas whose former residents were fraudulently induced and evicted with the use of these mortgages.
I served as FHA Commissioner (See: Austin Fitts Better be Good With Hammer and Nails) during the first Bush Administration and then, several years later, my company, Hamilton Securities Group, served as the lead financial advisor to FHA, providing portfolio strategy advice with respect to $400 billion of financial liabilities and assets, including over 50,000 of foreclosed properties held by the government as the result of mortgage insurance claims for defaulted FHA-insured mortgages.
– Fannie Demands Another $5.1 Billion In Aid From Treasury In Q2, $103.8 Billion Total Since Conservatorship (ZeroHedge, Aug 5, 2011):
There is just one number that is important in the just released Fannie Mae Q2 earnings release, in which the firm reported a loss of “just” $2.9 billion, which includes $6.1 billion in credit related expenses all of which was blamed on Bush (no, really “substantially all of which were related to the company’s legacy (pre-2009) book of business“). The number that matters is that for the 11th consecutive quarter a bankrupt Fannie Mae came running to the Treasury, this time requesting $5.1 billion from Tim Geithner, the second highest number in the past year. This brings the total cumulative bailout since Fannie’s conservatorship to a stunning $103.8 billion. And wasn’t it pathological liar Tim Geithner who himself said a month ago that the GSEs are no longer a burden on the Treasury? Perhaps he can explain the chart below taken from the company’s announcement.
As for the reasons for the ongoing losses, it has everything to do with the abysmal ongoing situation in housing.
The loss in the second
quarter of 2011 reflects the continued weakness in the housing and mortgage markets, which remain under pressure from high levels of unemployment, underemployment, and the prolonged decline in home prices since their peak in the third quarter of 2006. Pursuing loan modifications, key aspect of the company’s strategy to reduce defaults, also contributed to its loss in the quarter. Fannie Mae expects its credit-related expenses to remain elevated in 2011 due to these factors.“We remain the largest source of liquidity for the U.S. mortgage market, and we are committed to creating long-term value by helping to build a stable, sustainable housing market for the future,” said Michael J. Williams, president and chief executive officer. “We are focused on reducing taxpayer exposure by limiting our credit losses and building a strong new book of business. Our new book of business is now nearly half of our overall single-family book and we expect these new loans will be profitable over their lifetime.”
Fannie Mae’s net loss attributable to common stockholders in the second quarter of 2011 was $5.2 billion, or $(0.90) per diluted share, including $2.3 billion in dividend payments to the U.S. Treasury. The company’s net worth deficit of $5.1 billion as of June 30, 2011 reflects the recognition of its total comprehensive loss of $2.9 billion and its payment to Treasury of $2.3 billion in senior preferred stock dividends during the second quarter of 2011. The Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) will submit a request to Treasury on Fannie Mae’s behalf for $5.1 billion to eliminate the company’s net worth deficit. Upon receipt of those funds, the company’s total obligation to Treasury for its senior preferred stock will be $104.8 billion.
On the other hand, should American homeowners, aka squatters, actually start paying their mortgages, Fannie may be amazed at how quickly it will be able to turn that frown (and quarterly bailout request) upside down. Alas, that would mean fewer iPads sales and the Borg collective can not have that. After all what better reason to justify an imminent TARP 2 than an infinity +1 number of purchases of Angry Birds.
