Fannie Mae® or Federal National Mortgage Corporation (FNMA)
A tax-paying corporation created by Congress that buys and sells conventional residential mortgages, as well as those insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration (VA). This institution was created to make funding for home loans more available and more affordable.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
The FDIC is a government corporation created in 1933. Its main function is to provide insurance for deposits in member banks. The FDIC currently insures deposits for customers of over 8,000 banking institutions, supervises certain financial institutions, and performs other functions to protect America's bank customers. To learn more, including current deposit insurance limits, visit www.fdic.gov.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
A division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Its main activity is to insure residential mortgage loans and reverse mortgages made by private lenders.
Fees (mortgage)
Fees include mortgage points and expenses to underwrite and originate a mortgage loan. One point equals 1% of the loan amount. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers points to be a form of prepaid interest. Expenses include fees for appraisals, title searches, recording of documents, and conveyance taxes. Total closing costs include these fees, prepaid interest to the first mortgage payment, and prepayments for homeowner's insurance and property taxes.
Fixed interest-rate loan
A fixed interest-rate loan, or fixed-rate loan, is a loan with a constant, unchanging interest rate over the loan term.
Fixed Monthly Loan Advances
Payments of the same amount that are made to a borrower each month. Many reverse mortgages feature this type of advance.
Float-down
An adjustment made during a rate lock period which changes the original interest rate to a lower one.
Freddie Mac or Federal Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC)
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress to increase the supply of money that mortgage lenders, such as commercial banks, mortgage bankers, savings institutions and credit unions, can make available to homebuyers.
