Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, holds a significant position in the United States' secondary mortgage market. Its primary function involves acquiring residential mortgage loans—covering both individual homes and multi-unit properties—that are initially issued by various lenders. The company also strategically invests in these mortgage loans and associated securities. Its business activities are organized into two distinct operating divisions: Single-family and Multifamily. The Single-family segment is responsible for purchasing, securitizing (pooling into securities), and providing guarantees for loans on individual residences. This division also manages the credit risk tied to single-family mortgages, oversees its portfolio of mortgage-related investments, directs securitization processes for single-family loans, and handles treasury operations. It serves a wide array of financial institutions, including mortgage banking firms, commercial and regional banks, community banks, credit unions, housing finance agencies, savings institutions, and other non-depository financial entities. Conversely, the Multifamily segment focuses on the acquisition, sale, securitization, and guarantee of loans and securities specifically for multi-unit residential properties. This involves issuing specialized multifamily K and SB certificates, developing other securitization and credit risk transfer instruments, and offering various mortgage-related guarantees. This division caters to a diverse institutional clientele, such as banks and other depository institutions, insurance companies, asset management firms, central banks, pension funds, state and local government bodies, real estate investment trusts (REITs), brokers and dealers, and numerous types of lenders. Founded in 1970, the corporation maintains its headquarters in McLean, Virginia.