Fannie Mae provided $823.6 billion in funding, or liquidity, to "keep the singlefamily and multifamily mortgage markets operating during 2009." Fannie was responsible for more than 40 percent of the mortgage-related securities issuances, which made funds available for people to buy and refinance homes; and it also provided over 40 percent of financing for rental housing.

Through this funding, Fannie Mae provided financing that helped:

• 600,000 borrowers buy homes during the tightest mortgage credit market in decades,

• 2.5 million borrowers refinance into loans with lower payments, better terms or to meet other needs, and many borrowers were able to refinance despite having lost equity, and
  

• Purchase, refinance or rehabilitate 372,000 rental units.

In addition, more than 160,000 borrowers with Fannie Mae-owned loans were able to keep their homes through loan modification or other loan assistance.


In February 2009, the Administration announced the Making Home Affordable Program - the most aggressive housing relief effort in decades - and gave Fannie Mae two distinct and central roles in the program:

• Loan modification: The U.S. Treasury appointed Fannie Mae as its agent to administer the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). This program helps struggling borrowers - those whose loans are owned or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and those financed by other institutions - to modify their loans and avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.
  

• Loan refinancing: Under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which is available to borrowers with GSE-owned or guaranteed loans, Fannie Mae offers the opportunity to refinance into better loans, even if the value of their homes has declined to the point where they owe more than their homes are worth.