The government yesterday said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will
face no penalty for failing to meet certain federal affordable-
housing quotas in 2007 because market conditions made those
requirements unattainable.
The two federally chartered mortgage-finance companies, whose
ties to the government give them commercial advantages, are required
to devote certain percentages of their business to funding loans for
various categories of borrowers, such as homebuyers with low to
moderate incomes and those in poor neighborhoods.
During the upheaval in the housing and mortgage markets, both
companies fell short of two of the requirements last year, the
Department of Housing and Urban Development said ...