Fannie Ordered to Write Down MH Assets

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has ordered Fannie Mae to write down the value of its $8 billion manufactured housing portfolio by May 14.Without prescribing a dollar amount for the writedown, OFHEO -- in a May 6 letter to company chairman/CEO Franklin Raines -- said the mortgage giant is not "applying the proper accounting standard" to both its MH portfolio and some of its holdings of aircraft leases. Recent documents filed by Fannie indicate that, to date, it has taken just $206 million in "temporary impairment" charges on the $8 billion MH portfolio. Fannie also admits in documents that on March 9 some 76% of its MH assets were considered "investment grade," compared with 85% at year-end, a sign that assets are deteriorating in quality. Still, Fannie said in a statement that it is in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles and is seeking guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the issue. In trading Friday, the firm's stock was down 2.45% to $67, seven points above its 52-week low.