Federal National Mortgage Association (redirected from Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act)

Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)

A publicly owned, government-sponsored corporation chartered in 1938 to purchase mortgages from lenders and resell them to investors. Known by the nickname Fannie Mae, it packages mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, but also sells some nongovernment-backed mortgages.

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Federal National Mortgage Association

See Fannie Mae.

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Federal National Mortgage Association

Also known as Fannie Mae or the FNMA. A publicly-traded company chartered by the U.S. Congress to guarantee mortgages granted to low- or middle-income households. In order to do this, it buys mortgages and repackages them, selling them as mortgage-backed securities. It also maintains its own portfolio of mortgage-backed securities. With the collapse of the housing bubble, Fannie Mae was placed in federal receivership in 2008 as a result of overexposure to this market. See also: Freddie Mac, Community Reinvestment Act, Credit crunch.