The action has been described as 'one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in decades'. Lockhart III announced he had put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the conservatorship of the FHFA (see Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). On September 7, 2008, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director James B.

The name 'Freddie Mac' is a variant of the FHLMC initialism of the company's full name that was adopted officially for ease of identification. This secondary mortgage market increases the supply of money available for mortgage lending and increases the money available for new home purchases. Along with the Federal National Mortgage Association ( Fannie Mae), Freddie Mac buys mortgages, pools them, and sells them as a mortgage-backed security (MBS) to private investors on the open market. The FHLMC was created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages in the US.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ( FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.