Fannie Mae

The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1968 as a government sponsored enterprise (GSE), but founded in 1938 during the Depression.

Contrary to some beliefs, Fannie Mae does not make home loans directly to consumers, but rather functions as a leading participant in the U.S. secondary mortgage market. By purchasing and securitizing mortgages, Fannie Mae facilitates liquidity in the primary mortgage market by ensuring that funds are consistently available to the institutions that do lend money to home buyers