Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay another set of dividend payments

Fannie Mae Freddie MacFannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage firms backed by the government, are planning to make another dividend payment to the Treasury after recording profits during the third quarter of the year.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are recording strong recovery amid a reviving housing market in the US. The two companies had received about $187.5 billion in bailout money during the financial crisis and including the third quarter payments, the companies would have paid about $185.3 billion to the government. Under the agreement, dividend payments by Freddie and Fannie does not reduce the amount held by the taxpayers in the firms.

Fannie Mae Chief Executive Tim Mayopoulos said, "We are quickly approaching the point when taxpayers will receive a positive return on their investment in this company. That's obviously very good news for taxpayers."

Freddie and Fannie Mae are asking Citigroup and other big banks to acquire back mortgages, which were sold by them to the mortgage finance companies and that turned bad leading up to the mortgage crisis. The firms are suing banks for compensation for miss-sold mortgages.