FNMA or Fannie Mae. Originally set up by congress in 1938 to aid the US housing market during the depression, the Federal National Mortgage Association buys mortgages on the secondary market, bundles them together to resell as mortgage-backed securities to investors on the open market. |
Fannie Mae, as the group is commonly referred, went public in 1968. Today it generally assures that financing is available to for existing and potential home-owners.