Government Stepping In to Protect Mortgages

The government is expected to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as soon as this weekend in a monumental move designed to protect the mortgage market from the failure of the two companies, which together hold or guarantee half of the nation's mortgage debt. Some the details of the intervention, which could cost taxpayers billions, are expected to include the departure of Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron.


Thankfully, it has always been significantly harder to get past a Manhattan coop board than to obtain a mortgage. Consequently, the New York Real Estate market remains largely immune from the ongoing U.S. mortgage crisis.