Mudd: Fannie Not 'Actively' Seeking Servicer

Fannie Mae is "not actively" seeking to buy a servicing platform, according to its chief executive officer, Daniel Mudd, but he says he is concerned about a shortage of servicing capacity due to a growing number of troubled loans and servicers that are going out of business.There have been reports that the mortgage giant has its eye on Litton Loan Servicing, but Fannie's president and CEO declined to comment specifically on the Houston servicer in taking questions from reporters. "Keeping that capability out there is much more important to us than that being a line of business per se," Mr. Mudd said after speaking to the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. Mr. Mudd stressed that Fannie's mission is to provide stability in the secondary mortgage market, and servicing capacity is important to the stability of the secondary market. Since April, Fannie's Home Stay program has helped 33,000 subprime borrowers refinance into safer loans totaling $6 billion, Mr. Mudd told the credit union executives. Fannie can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.