Fannie Mae 

2015 Progress Report

Our Year in Review
For more information on our business, including information on our recent financial results and credit performance, the credit profile 

of our book of business, our expectations for our future financial performance, and significant risks relating to our business, see our 

annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 

19, 2016 (“2015 Form 10-K”) and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, filed with the Securities and 

Exchange Commission on May 5, 2016, as well as any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

These reports include our expectations regarding the focus of our business, our dividend payments to Treasury, and the impact of our 

actions on our business and the U.S. housing finance system. These expectations are forward-looking statements based on our current 

assumptions regarding numerous factors. Our actual results and future expectations may differ materially from our current expectations as a result of many factors, including those discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of and elsewhere in our 2015 Form 10-K 

and subsequently filed Form 10-Qs. These forward-looking statements are representative only as of the date they are made, and we 

undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as 

required under the federal securities laws.

Data in this report as of or through December 31, 2015, unless otherwise indicated.

Published May 5, 2016
Table of Contents

A Message from Our CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Leadership & Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Service & Certainty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Opportunity & Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

1

A Message from Our CEO on

Change, Challenge, and Progress 

in Housing Finance

“Home” is a powerful concept for most Americans, evoking thoughts of family,

warmth, safety, and security. Behind the enduring concept, however, lies a 

sophisticated housing finance ecosystem that is constantly evolving. This 

ecosystem consists of a remarkably diverse network of people, professions,

companies, and government bodies who all help make affordable homeownership

and rental housing options possible for millions of American families.

Fannie Mae plays a leading role in this ecosystem. In simplest terms, we serve 

the people who house America. We provide reliable, affordable mortgage 

financing in all markets at all times, buying loans that banks and other lenders 

originate so they can fund new loans. This gives more people the opportunity to 

buy, refinance, or rent homes. Creating these opportunities with our partners is 

what drives the people who work at Fannie Mae.

In 2015, Fannie Mae and housing finance continued to evolve at a rapid pace. 

While Fannie Mae remains in conservatorship, we are a vastly different and 

stronger company than we were just a few years ago. Our work with mortgage 

lenders and other housing partners is driving exciting changes in how America 

finances mortgages, how we create housing opportunities, and how we meet 

today’s most critical housing challenges.
2

We work with our partners to drive transformative changes 

that expand opportunities for our customers, homeowners, 

and renters

Over the course of the past 25 years, technology has transformed almost 

every industry; some more than once. Until recently, however, applying for a 

mortgage, closing on a mortgage, and making the monthly mortgage payment 

looked and felt much like it did in the 1990s. 

That is rapidly changing as technology dramatically raises the bar on what 

consumers expect from the mortgage experience. Our job is to help our lender 

customers meet those expectations by providing innovative, easy-to-use 

tools, and great service. In fact, the changes we are making not only help our 

customers succeed, they also make mortgage lending safer by providing more 

complete and accurate information about the key factors in underwriting a loan 

– from the value of the home being purchased to the borrower’s income and 

credit history. 

In 2015, for example, we expanded our use of tools that make it easier and 

more efficient for lenders to underwrite a loan, appraise the value of a house, 

deliver a loan to Fannie Mae, and service a loan after it closes. We drove 

broader adoption of automated resources that help lenders find solutions for 

homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments. We also introduced 

a new technology platform that makes it easier for our multifamily lenders to 

do business with us.

In addition, we began offering new tools and simplified our policies so 

that we and our customers can better know the quality of a loan before it 

is even funded, let alone delivered to us. This allows lenders to lend with 

more confidence because it gives them more certainty that a loan meets our 

standards and reduces repurchase risk, a major pain point for lenders in the 

wake of the housing crisis.

In 2016, we will introduce new automated solutions that provide lenders with 

a more complete picture of a homeowner’s financial situation over time and 

validate income and asset data for people applying for a mortgage, reducing 

paperwork for everyone.

Taken together, these tools can help lenders do business more efficiently, 

reduce mortgage fraud, and put homeowners in loans that are affordable and 

sustainable over the long term.

A Message from Our CEO
3

We are also changing our business culture by putting the customer at the center 

of everything we do. This includes changing the way we are organized, so that 

our customers can do business with us more easily and get the answers they 

need quickly.

Fannie Mae was created to serve our customers and other stakeholders, and 

we succeed by helping them succeed. This central truth drives every business 

decision we make. It is why we listen closely to our customers in the hundreds 

of conversations we have with them every day. It is why we are committed to 

providing them with products and services that are not simply good, but great. 

It is why we are doing all we can to make doing business with us easier, more 

certain, and less expensive. By helping customers grow their business, we help 

more Americans obtain reliable, sustainable, low-cost mortgage financing.

We are fulfilling our core mission to provide affordable 

mortgage financing in all markets at all times

Times change but our housing mission endures. We are in the market every day, 

using our knowledge, experience, and scale to help lenders across the country 

lend with confidence to creditworthy borrowers and finance the construction of 

workforce rental housing.

During the housing crisis, private capital retreated from the mortgage market. 

Fannie Mae, with the support of taxpayers, did not. 

6M home purchases

14M refinancings

3M rental units

$5Tto the market since 2009 has enabled:
4

A Message from Our CEO
5

Since the start of 2009, we have financed approximately 6 million home 

purchases, 14 million refinancings, and 3 million rental apartments. These 

numbers are so large that they can be difficult to truly appreciate, so let me 

offer this for perspective: As you drive through your neighborhood, or any 

typical neighborhood in any part of the country, about one out of every three 

single-family homes you see was likely purchased or refinanced with Fannie 

Mae financing.

We also are a leader in helping homeowners and communities that were hit 

hardest by the housing crisis. We introduced innovative loan modifications 

and other products that were adopted broadly by the industry. Since 2009, 

we have helped families avoid foreclosure through approximately 1.8 million 

loan modifications and other loan workouts, and we’ve helped homeowners 

save money on their mortgage each month through approximately 4.4 million 

refinancings, delivered through our streamlined Refi PlusTM initiative. 

Today, as housing continues to recover, Fannie Mae is also looking ahead 

to future challenges that are coming into focus. Our research shows that an 

average of 1.2 million new households will form every year in the second half 

of this decade, far above the 900,000 per year we experienced in the first half 

of the decade. This means that over the next five years, we believe housing 

demand will grow sharply, with 6 million new American households needing 

housing options they can afford, with the bulk of this growth coming from 

minority communities and millennials.

We have a responsibility to help lenders provide families with safe, sustainable 

mortgage and rental housing options. We especially want to ensure that 

families have access to the 15- and 30-year fixed-rate loans that we help make 

possible. At the end of 2015, these mortgages made up 84 percent of our singlefamily loans, and they remain the mortgage of choice for the vast majority of 

American homebuyers because they provide certainty, predictability, and the 

ability to refinance at any time.

Since 2009, Fannie Mae has helped 

prevent 1.8M foreclosures and delivered 

4.4M Refi Plus refinancings
6

In 2015, to help meet future demand, we introduced an affordable, sustainable 

mortgage called HomeReady®. HomeReady provides lenders with more 

flexibility in serving creditworthy, low- to moderate-income borrowers, 

especially in low-income areas, areas with high minority populations, and 

areas hurt by disasters. HomeReady also breaks new ground by providing 

flexibility on the source of the down payment and by allowing borrowers to 

count income from other household members. This can be a big boost for many 

extended families, minority families, and non-traditional families. Importantly, 

a HomeReady mortgage is also safe and sustainable, backed by solid analytics 

and underwriting.

HomeReady is just one example of the kind of innovations that are possible 

when we bring our know-how, our data, and our nationwide reach to bear on 

tough housing challenges. It is a microcosm of our larger responsibility to 

ensure that America’s next generation of mortgage products is tailored to the 

circumstances of the next generation of Americans. It is also a symbol of our 

unwavering commitment to help our customers serve all segments of today’s 

mortgage market confidently and efficiently. 

We have fundamentally changed the way we do business in 

ways that make Fannie Mae and housing finance stronger

Over the past seven years, Fannie Mae has not only made changes to our 

business, we have changed our business model. These changes involve the 

types of loans that we finance as well as what we do with the loans once they 

come through our door. Together, these changes make the company stronger, 

provide more protection to taxpayers, and expand the role of private capital in 

the housing finance system.

Beginning in 2008, Fannie Mae took action to significantly strengthen our 

underwriting and eligibility standards to improve the quality of loans delivered 

to us. 

Our strength, however, comes not just from a stronger book of business but 

a stronger business model – one that is more sustainable, and more reliable. 

Ten years ago, the primary driver of our revenue was our retained investment 

portfolio, securities and other assets we purchased with our low cost of funds. 

At its peak, we held about $900 billion of investment assets in our portfolio. 

A Message from Our CEO
7

Today, we have reduced our investment portfolio to less than $200 billion, with 

more reductions on the way. The main driver of our revenues is no longer the 

portfolio but the more stable and predictable flow of guaranty fees we earn on 

mortgages we have guaranteed and pooled into mortgage-backed securities.

Alongside this evolution, we are moving from being a company that stores 

credit risk to one that also intelligently distributes credit risk to other market 

participants. This means greater protection and less risk for taxpayers. 

In the past, when we bought or securitized a mortgage for a single-family 

home, we acquired all the credit risk that went with the mortgage and typically 

held it through the life of the asset. Today, we are moving a significant portion 

of the credit risk on newly acquired loans away from us (and taxpayers) to 

private capital. We do this through innovative capital market transactions 

and reinsurance transactions. Investors are attracted to these transactions 

because they understand that we have developed world-class capabilities to 

assess credit risk, manage loan servicers, and minimize losses when loans 

go delinquent. By the end of 2015, we had transferred a significant portion of 

the credit risk on more than half a trillion dollars of loans, helping to increase 

private investment in mortgage credit.

In our multifamily business, we continue to share the risk on more than 90 

percent of our transactions with our lenders. We continue to expand and 

enhance this model so that we can serve the widest possible spectrum of the 

multifamily market.

The changes we and our partners are making to the housing finance ecosystem 

are real and they are accelerating. Few are given the chance to help an industry 

fundamentally reinvent itself to meet future challenges. The people who work 

at Fannie Mae are honored to play a role in leading changes to our housing 

finance system. 

Timothy J. Mayopoulos
8

Leadership & 

Innovation
9

Leadership & Innovation

We serve the people who house America

At Fannie Mae, we’re a do-it-together team

Working with our customers and partners, we’re moving housing in the United 

States forward. Today’s housing finance system is stronger, safer, and more 

efficient than it was in the past. It is a system that helps to ensure reliable, 

affordable homes are available across the nation, at all times. A system that 

protects – not leverages – taxpayers. This is America’s new housing system. 

Fannie Mae is proud to support it.
10 11

In Michigan, the recession led to 

crushing job losses in the auto 

industry, forcing many families 

from their homes. In 2015, we 

provided the financing for 68,000 

single-family loans, helping families 

to plant new, sustainable roots.

In Michigan

In Florida

Florida was hit hardest during the 

housing crisis when home values 

plummeted. We’re helping to 

stabilize the local housing market. 

In 2015, we enabled more than 

125,000 home purchases and 

refinancings.

60K

30K

10K

Loans

in 2015:

In California

California is home to the nation’s 

toughest housing affordability 

issues — only 30% of households 

can afford to buy a median-priced 

home. In 2015, Fannie Mae enabled 

families to buy or refinance 

more than 350,000 homes in the 

country’s most populous state.

Leadership & Innovation

For nearly 80 years, we’ve been a leading source of financing for America’s 

housing. We have funded more home mortgages than any other company. We 

have financed millions of units of workforce rental housing. We have attracted 

global capital to meet the changing demands of the market. 

We have done all this even during tough economic times, when others left the 

market. In good times and bad, we have the commitment, deep experience, and 

know-how to keep the market healthy and to help ensure responsible lending 

for qualified borrowers across the country. 

We bring the finance to the U.S. housin

finance system

We give people across the U.S. the opportunit

to buy, refinance, and rent homes
13

We’re serving the spectrum of the 

nation’s rental housing needs

In 2015, we announced that we will provide the 

financing for one of the country’s most significant 

residential communities, Stuyvesant Town-Peter 

Cooper Village in New York City. The deal will 

ensure rental housing is available – and affordable 

– for working and middle-class families in this 

large community over the next 20 years.

“Preserving rental housing for moderateincome residents in New York City is a 

significant challenge. Fannie Mae is the

leader in providing financing for workforce 

housing. Our deep understanding of

the multifamily market combined with 

our financing expertise will ensure the 

preservation of this much needed workforce 

housing in one of the most expensive 

markets in the country.”

– Jeffery Hayward,

 Executive Vice President for Multifamily

For nearly 30 years, providing financing to 

the rental market through our DUS

® lender 

partnerships has been the core mission of 

Fannie Mae’s Multifamily business. Our unique 

DUS platform relies on shared risk, with lenders 

retaining some of the underlying credit risk of the 

loans they deliver to Fannie Mae. DUS lenders can 

underwrite, close, deliver, and service loans on all 

types of multifamily properties. This means faster 

decisions and quicker closings for customers.

Stuyvesant Town-Peter 

Cooper Village • Historic residential community on 

Manhattan’s East Side

• 110 buildings • 11,241 units (5,000 are affordable to 

moderate-income residents)

• $2.7 billion loan • Working in partnership with 

Blackstone and Wells Fargo 

Multifamily Capital, one of our 25 

Delegated Underwriting and Servicing

(DUS

®

) lenders

Photo: Mr. Taylor Crothers

Leadership & Innovation
14

Leadership & Innovation

We’ve been doing this for a long time

Shared systems. Shared success.

Our customers need tools that streamline their processes 

and help them manage risk. In 2015, we revolutionized the 

appraisal process by making Collateral UnderwriterTM, our 

extensive proprietary appraisal risk assessment platform, 

fully available to Fannie Mae lenders. With Collateral 

Underwriter, lenders can address appraisal quality issues 

before delivering loans to Fannie Mae – at no cost. 

But we didn’t stop there. We integrated Collateral 

Underwriter with our industry-preferred loan underwriting 

system, Desktop Underwriter®, to give lenders even more 

risk management capabilities. And, we eliminated the fees 

to use both Desktop Underwriter and Desktop Originator®. 

Now lenders can deliver strong mortgages, faster, with 

greater certainty.

Our scale, experience, and expertise give us a unique perspective in the housing 

market, and we put it to work every day. From creating the gold standard in 

mortgage-backed securities to pioneering the industry-preferred automated 

underwriting system. From building the largest loss mitigation platform to 

rolling out responsible, innovative mortgage products. We deliver smart 

solutions for customers, homeowners, and renters.

This is our legacy. This is our futur
15

Fannie Mae has the market intelligence 

needed for better mortgage lending from 

coast to coast. We want to share it with yo

We’re always thinking about homebuyers and renters. After all, together with 

our lenders and servicers, we’re homebuyers and renters, too. With stronger 

market intelligence, our partners can better serve their customers. That means 

putting more people into homes they can afford for the long term. 

It’s why we base everything we do on in-depth market data, research, and 

analysis – and it’s why we share that information at no charge. We’re helping 

mortgage lenders, real estate agents, and other industry pros to understand 

what’s happening in the housing market now and what it could mean for their 

business in the future. 

From mortgage expertise, to diverse 

resources, to actionable data. It’s all here.

Our industry thrives on data to make decisions. In 2015, we introduced easy, 

self-serve access to the information our partners need to do better business. 

Fannie Mae’s new Home Purchase Sentiment IndexTM is a measure of 

consumers’ attitudes on the home purchase environment. It distills data from 

our National Housing Survey® – a monthly poll of 1,000 homeowners and 

renters on their housing and financial outlook – into a single indicator. The 

“HPSI” is unique. Unlike general economic indices, it’s devoted entirely to 

housing, designed to provide distinct signals on future housing outcomes. 

We also created a pipeline of new data to our customers, helping them get 

information quickly and in a well-designed format that allows them to dig for 

more insight. With Fannie Mae ConnectTM, lenders have real-time access to 

data, reports, and analytics that are tailored to their individual business.
16

Leadership & Innovation

America is changing, and we’re 

changing with it

The nation’s housing demographics are constantly shifting

To serve the market effectively, you need to anticipate and 

meet the needs of its homebuyers

We’re focused on introducing better tools to the mortgage market based on 

needs, insights, and data. Our solutions are tailored to help lenders bring the 

mortgage experience into the 21st century and make the mortgage-buying 

process easier to navigate. However, the most important goal is not getting 

people into homes – it’s keeping them there. 

At Fannie Mae, we are expanding access to mortgage credit in a responsible 

way. We design our products to help qualified borrowers find housing 

opportunities that are affordable and sustainable for the long term. 
17
Service & Certainty
19

Service & Certainty

This is what we do. This is how we work. This is what w

bring to the nation’s housing providers. We’re committed

to being America’s most valued housing partner

We’ve improved our end-to-end products, services, and capabilities to optimize 

the everyday customer experience. The result? Our lenders, servicers, and other 

industry partners can work with the ease, efficiency, and transparency they 

need to succeed.

Simplicity. Certainty. Service. Resu
20

Service & Certainty

The status quo is not for us

At Fannie Mae, we know building a better housing system 

starts at our front door

We’re continually improving our company, streamlining the way we work, 

and anticipating tomorrow’s challenges. We are driving important changes in 

housing finance.

It’s about building for the future. We are a vastly improved company now than 

we were a few years ago. We have fundamentally changed the way we do 

business, in ways that make both Fannie Mae and America’s housing safer and 

better, while reducing risk for taxpayers. Today, the majority of our revenue 

comes from our guaranty business rather than from our retained investment 

portfolio. This source of revenue is more stable, reliable, and predictable.

Credit Risk Transfer — What is it?

Old Model

Lender MBS Fannie 

Mae

Risk remained 

with Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae:

• Guaranteed timely payment 

of principal and interest to 

MBS investor

• Kept all credit risk associated 

with loan acquisitions

• Managed credit risk through 

underwriting and eligibility 

guidelines, lender oversight, 

quality control practices, 

servicing policies, and credit 

portfolio management
21

We’ve strengthened our business, and we’ve strengthened 

our core business model

In recent years, we have moved away from being a company that only acquires 

and holds mortgage credit risk. Instead, we distribute much of that risk through 

our credit risk transfer transactions – facilitating the flow of private capital 

between Fannie Mae’s 1,200 lenders and a diverse group of investors. This 

allows financial institutions to invest in the credit performance of our singlefamily book of business. 

Credit risk sharing isn’t new at Fannie Mae, but it has evolved dramatically 

since the financial crisis. In just over two years, we have created a new market 

for credit risk transfers, bolstered by our innovative, industry-leading credit risk 

management resources.

Why? Because moving risk away from Fannie Mae means moving risk away 

from taxpayers, reducing the role of government, and expanding the role of 

private capital in America’s mortgage market. 

Fannie Mae is creating new markets for credit 

risk transfers

New Model

Lender

MBS

Credit 

Investor

Fannie 

Mae

Portion of risk is transferred to 

credit investors

Fannie Mae:

• Guarantees timely payment 

of principal and interest to 

MBS investor

• Sells a portion of credit risk 

to investors

• Applies its credit risk 

management expertise on 

behalf of investors to protect 

the value of their investment
22

Our technology is transforming the 

housing market

Our goal is to enable all our lender customers to work 

better and achieve more. When they succeed, homeowners

and renters get the benefits

At Fannie Mae, we’re melding our deep knowledge of mortgage finance with 

world-class technology capabilities. No matter our customers’ focus – from loan 

origination to delivery and servicing – our tools are helping to modernize and 

simplify the mortgage process. We are streamlining the customer workflow and 

making it easier to do business with greater certainty.

Service & Certainty
23

Goodbye, old systems and processes. 

Hello, DUS GatewayTM

.

In 2015, we debuted our new front-end loan approval system for our 

multifamily lenders. DUS Gateway transforms the way we manage our loan 

pipeline and helps our lenders serve the widest possible spectrum of the 

rental market. Using one common platform, lenders can collaborate directly 

with their Fannie Mae partners, sharing data and documents quickly for 

better results. With DUS Gateway, deals get done smarter and faster.
24

Opportunity & 

Responsibility
85%

Single-family loans 

acquired since 

January 1, 2009

Excluding HARP®

and other Refi 

Plus loans

HARP loans

Other Refi Plus 

loans

67%

10%

8%

15%

Single-family loans 

acquired prior to 2009

Composition of our single-family book of business:

25

Opportunity & Responsibility

Fannie Mae plays an essential role in setting loan eligibility, underwriting, and 

risk management standards for the housing industry. These go hand in hand 

with our commitment to bring housing opportunities to creditworthy families 

across the country. At the same time, we help ensure that people only take out 

mortgages they can afford and maintain for the life of the loan.

Beginning in 2008, we took action to strengthen our underwriting and eligibility 

standards to improve loan quality. Since then, we have seen the effect of 

those actions reflected in a stronger single-family book of business – one that 

promotes sustainable homeownership and stability in the housing market.

We’re expanding access to mortgage credit

But never at the expense of our company 

or the market
26

Opportunity & Responsibility

We’re leading the way to help our lender customers make 

these three things a reality

People need mortgages they can afford for the long term. That’s why we’re a 

leading source of liquidity for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage – Americans’ 

preferred mortgage product. 

With long-term, fixed-rate mortgages, homeowners have predictable monthly 

payments and protection from interest rate swings. They can also refinance at 

any time, enabling them to save money over the life of the loan. 

When it comes to financing a home, 

most borrowers look for three things: 

safety, affordability, and reliability

17.3M single-famil

conventional loans

as of 12/31/15

97%

are current

on payments

88%

are primary 

residences

84%

are 15- and 

30-year 

fixed-rate 

mortgages
27
28

We provide the resources and options the industry needs to help struggling 

homeowners. Our shared goal is to give them every opportunity available to 

avoid foreclosure and get back on their feet. 

Since 2009, we’ve helped families through approximately 

6.2 million loan modifications, loan workouts, and

streamlined refinancings

For a family facing foreclosure, it can feel 

like they’ve reached a dead end

Opportunity & Responsibility

200K

600K

1.2M

Refi Plus refinancings

Loan workouts

Loan modifications

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

In 2012, we removed the loan-to-value 

cap on Refi Plus to help more underwater 

borrowers benefit from low interest rates.
29

We’re stepping up to meet the nation’s 

most pressing housing needs

The people of Fannie Mae are at the heart of housing – and 

volunteerism is at the heart of Fannie Mae

Our responsibility to serve the housing market goes beyond our day-to-day 

business transactions. Through our SERVE employee volunteer program, we’re 

helping to rebuild America’s hardest-hit communities, and helping people to 

overcome financial and social barriers to safe, affordable housing.

Giving back is central to who we are. That’s why our employees are free to 

choose and coordinate their own volunteer projects for eligible non-profit 

organizations. Some plan and join in team efforts. Others participate in 

national days of service, such as Martin Luther King Day and the 9/11 Day of 

Remembrance. 

All our efforts have one powerful thing in common, rooted deeply in who we 

are. At Fannie Mae, we work for those who need us.

Nearly

3,000

Fannie Mae

employees,

40%

of our workforce,

participated in

7 Days

to SERVE

Fannie Mae 

volunteers

contributed

11,388

hours, the 

equivalent of

6 

employees 

dedicated full-time

for one year

Our annual 7 Days to SERVE volunteer week brought Fannie Mae 

employees to hard-hit communities in eight U.S. cities in 20

www.fanniemae.com/progress

3900 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20016

©2016 Fannie Mae. Reproduction of photographs 

contained in this Progress Report is prohibited.