Freddie Mac was chartered by Congress in 1970 with a public mission to stabilize the nation's residential mortgage markets and expand opportunities for homeownership and affordable rental housing. Our statutory mission is to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the U.S. housing market.

We participate in the secondary mortgage market by purchasing mortgage loans and mortgage-related securities for investment and by issuing guaranteed mortgage-related securities, principally those we call PCs. The secondary mortgage market consists of institutions engaged in buying and selling mortgages in the form of whole loans (i.e., mortgages that have not been securitized) and mortgage-related securities. We do not lend money directly to homeowners.

Read our charter [PDF].

The Current Landscape

Freddie Mac is operating under a conservatorship that began on September 6, 2008, conducting our business under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

We are focused on meeting the urgent liquidity needs of the U.S. residential mortgage market, lowering costs for borrowers and supporting the recovery of the housing market and U.S. economy. By continuing to provide access to funding for mortgage originators and, indirectly, for mortgage borrowers and through our role in the federal Making Home Affordable program, we are working to

• Meet the needs of the mortgage market by making homeownership and rental housing more affordable
• Reduce the number of foreclosures
• Helping families keep their homes

Freddie Mac is both mindful and appreciative of the federal financial support we have received, and as an institution in conservatorship, we are highly focused on being good stewards of this support.