Ginnie Mae's Troubling Endorsements

t
least 36 mortgage companies with histories of civil suits, reckless
lending, fines, or other sanctions from regulators have for years
received the blessing of Ginnie Mae, the government's huge mortgage
guarantor, according to a new collaborative investigation by the Center
for Public Integrity and The Washington Post. The story, "Ginnie Mae's Troubling Endorsements," features an interactive database of troubled mortgage firms that have been endorsed by Ginnie Mae.

Ginnie Mae authorizes
lenders to bundle mortgages into securities and sell them to investors
- backed by U.S. taxpayer funds. More than a dozen lenders with Ginnie
Mae's endorsement have made loans that are now delinquent at rates far
in excess of what regulators consider acceptable, according to the
investigation. Sixteen of the lenders have been cited by various
federal regulators for unsafe banking practices, insufficient capital,
or other violations.

The Department of Housing
and Urban Development's inspector general says Ginnie Mae is too
accommodating of problem lenders and Ginnie Mae's outside auditor
recently reported a "significant deficiency" in the agency's internal
controls.