HMDA Analysis: Countrywide/BoA Fannie's Top Customer in 2008

In 2008 the top customer of Fannie Mae was, by far, the combined mortgage operation of Bank of America and Countrywide Financial Corp., accounting for almost 18% of all loans sold to the mortgage giant, according to an analysis done by National Mortgage News. Overall, BoA/CFC sold $112 billion of home mortgages to Fannie, which purchased $631 billion in product from all its seller/servicers last year. Countrywide itself, which was purchased by BoA, on July 1, 2008, sold $86 billion in mortgages to Fannie Mae. For years Countrywide had a "strategic alliance" agreement with Fannie whereby it received discounts on the guarantee fee charged to it in exchange for selling most of its originations to the GSE. As Countrywide's credit quality deteriorated its problem loans translated into trouble for Fannie Mae, which was placed into a federal conservatorship in September 2008. Fannie's second largest customer last year was Wells Fargo & Co., with loan sales of $68.9 billion. When Wachovia is factored into Wells' sales, the figure rises slightly to $70.9 billion. (Wells bought Wachovia last fall.)