Definition

Proper noun: * Federal National Mortgage Association: A federally chartered, publicly traded corporation in the United States, commonly known as Fannie Mae, whose primary function is to purchase and guarantee mortgages from lenders, thereby providing liquidity to the mortgage market.

Usage

• Proper noun: Used as a specific name for the corporation. It is often referred to by its acronym, FNMA, or its nickname, Fannie Mae.
  • The lender sold the mortgage to FNMA to free up capital for new loans.
  • Regulatory changes significantly impacted FNMA's operations after the financial crisis.

Advanced Usage

• "to be under the conservatorship of FNMA": Refers to the legal status of FNMA being under the management and control of a government conservator, a situation it entered in 2008.
  • The housing finance giant has remained under the conservatorship of FNMA and Freddie Mac for over a decade.

Variants and Related Words

• Fannie Mae (n): The common, informal name for the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA).
  • Most people have heard of Fannie Mae, even if they don't know it stands for FNMA.
• GSE (n, acronym): Government-Sponsored Enterprise. FNMA is classified as a GSE.
  • As a GSE, FNMA has a public mission to support the housing market.

Synonyms

• Federal National Mortgage Association: The full, formal name.
• Fannie Mae: The widely used colloquial name.

Related Terms & Context

• Mortgage-backed security (MBS): A type of investment security secured by a collection of mortgages. FNMA is a major issuer of MBS.
• Freddie Mac (FHLMC): The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, another government-sponsored enterprise that performs a similar function to FNMA.
• Liquidity: The availability of liquid assets. FNMA provides liquidity to the mortgage market by purchasing loans from lenders.

Noun

1. a federally chartered corporation that purchases mortgages