A good primer on Fannie and Freddie from ProPublica.

Fannie and Freddie are private entities but are sponsored/controlled by the federal government. So it seems many times that they are bi-polar in many of their actions. From the ProPublica writeup,Why Fannie and Freddie are Hesitating to Help Homeowners:

Earlier this week, ProPublica and NPR detailed how Freddie Mac placed bets against homeowners that paid off if borrowers were unable to refinance their mortgage loans. The story highlighted the conflicted role of the behemoth and now government-controlled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae: They are at once supposed to maximize their profits and thus pay back taxpayers, but they are also now government wards and many feel should be helping the millions of Americans struggling to stay in their homes.

The article is quite detailed with a shitload of links that explains much about the gigantic entities that seem to go against homeowners more than helping them. One important question in particular that they try to answer in the writeup:

So do Fannie and Freddie actually help homeowners? And why can’t the government force their hand?

The companies say that by bolstering the companies’ finances, they are helping to stabilize the housing market as a whole, but Freddie and Fannie have hampered many of the administration’s plans for relief for struggling homeowners.

The two report to a regulator called the Federal Housing Finance Authority, which, since the bailout, has acted as their board of directors and shareholders, making their major decisions. In the wake of our story, the White House and several senators called for more oversight and an explanation as to why Freddie’s investment strategy seems to run counter to their mandate to help homeowners.

More broadly, the Obama administration and the head of FHFA, Edward DeMarco, have often clashed over the goals of the companies.

This week, Obama outlined a new set of initiatives aimed at making it easier for homeowners to refinance and encouraging loan forgiveness. But Fannie and Freddie havepreviously refused to participate in loan forgiveness programs, and they continue to tussle with the administration on the issue. (It seems unlikely that any of Obama’s proposals will get through Congress, and ProPublica has documented extensive problemswith similar programs aimed at preventing foreclosures).

The two aims of Fannie and Freddie are continually at odds — policies encouraging refinancing and forgiveness for more mortgage holders can increase costs to the taxpayer-owned companies. While the administration has made relief for homeowners their priority, DeMarco says his agency’s priority is to protect Fannie and Freddie’s profits, aka taxpayers’ assets. Of course, many taxpayers are those same struggling homeowners, and that is at the heart of the dilemma over Fannie and Freddie’s future.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told NPR she was shocked by a recent meeting with DeMarco. “It was the worst meeting I’ve ever had in my life,” said Boxer. “His interest is making sure Fannie and Freddie do well financially.”

The thing about the Obama initiatives is that many forward-thinking state AG’s are not falling in lockstep w/the administration on this shit. My own state’s AG, Kamala Harris, as well as NY AG and now head of Obama’s new working group, Eric Schneiderman, told him to fuck off on his first attempt at brokering an agreement that ‘said’ it helped homeowners and of course the Banksters too..who really don’t need help imho and evidently Harris and Schneiderman’s as well.

But the writeup does well to point out the obvious dual goals of the companies and how they are polar opposites when it comes to who they represent…the Banksters or the homeowners. So far..the Banksters are winning.

Oh, and for the record..Edward DeMarco is a friggin douchenozzle and if Obama can dump his ass..I don’t know wtf he is waiting for as all that fucknut cares about is profits for both companies and big CEO bonuses. The idiot that runs the federal government dept that oversees Fannie and Freddie, The Federal Housing and Finance Authority, is also a good friend to the Banksters as he continually makes the Banks participation in these homeowner relief measures largely voluntary.

The only group that is looking out for the homeowners really..are the state Attorneys General. It sure as hell isn’t the Federal Government who tries to make everyone, including The Corporatocracy, happy whilst they make no one happy…unless there are loopholes to be used….and the Banksters make good use of those loopholes every fucking chance they get.

UPDATE: My dear friend and blogger RJ has turned me on to a very good, concise rebuttal of ProPublica’s writeup on Fannie and Freddie over at NakedCapitalism. I take RJ’s word as gospel on all things Econ and Finance, so I must, in good conscience, link to the piece he pointed me to here and say that I will read it and rethink my position on what ProPublica had to say in their writeup, which I used to basee my thoughts on here, in this post. Since my major medical issues keep my online time to almost nil lately, I didn’t take the time to ask his pov on the ProPublica writeup..which I usually do when it concerns Econ, Housing or Finance issues.