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# Fannie, Freddie Announce Plans To Back 3% Down-Payment Mortgages

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/swAXzEzr.m3u8" -->
## Video: Fannie, Freddie Announce Plans To Back 3% Down-Payment Mortgages

[Watch (HLS stream): Fannie, Freddie Announce Plans To Back 3% Down-Payment Mortgages](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/swAXzEzr.m3u8) (1:44)

![Fannie, Freddie Announce Plans To Back 3% Down-Payment Mortgages](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/swAXzEzr/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-12-09. According to officials with the companies the move is designed to help those with lower income and good credit to afford homes._


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Jul 27, 2023 5:37 PM UTC

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## Transcript

If you've got good credit but are low on cash, you'll soon have more options when it comes to buying a home. That's thanks to new terms from lending giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Which announced plans on Monday to back mortgages with as little as a 3 % down payment. According to officials with the companies the move is designed to help those with lower income but good credit to afford homes. Quoted by the Los Angeles Times, Fannie Mae's executive VP for single family underwriting pricing and capital markets said. We are confident that these loans could be good business for lenders, safe and sound for Fannie Mae and an affordable, responsible option for qualified borrowers.

But before the new programs have even rolled out they're coming under criticism. 3 % down payments for mortgages. That seems really incredible given how high lending standards have been since the housing bubble. What happened to. Oh, you have to now put in 25 to 30 %. That seems to be the main argument. That the new, low rates could lead to another housing bubble and crash like that of 2008. As The Chicago Tribune points out, it's a concern the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Texas Republican Jeb Hinsarling, agrees with. According to the Tribune, he believes the changes will return the housing the market to the slipshod practices that wrecked our economy.

After the 2008 crash, Fannie and Freddie were bailed out to the tune of $ 187 billion, though, they have since repaid that sum. For their part, the lending companies claim safe guards built into the loans, like education and counseling programs, and requirements for private mortgage insurance. Will help prevent defaults. The companies will run two different programs. Fannie Mae's is set to start September 13th with Freddie Mac's offering the lower down- payment loans starting in March of 2015.

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