Our Mission
Ginnie Mae’s mission is to bring global capital into the housing finance system—a system that runs through the core of our nation’s economy – while minimizing risk to the taxpayer.
For more than 40 years, Ginnie Mae has continually provided liquidity and stability, serving as the principal financing arm for government loans and ensuring that funds can flow into the mortgage market. Today, Ginnie Mae is playing a vital role in our nation’s economic recovery efforts.
Established by Congress in 1968 as a government-owned corporation, Ginnie Mae’s statutory purpose is to ensure that adequate capital is available to finance affordable single-family homes, rental housing, and healthcare facilities as well as to provide liquidity in times of economic stress. Ginnie Mae does not originate mortgage loans, nor does it buy or sell securities or loans for investment purposes. Rather, it guarantees investors the timely payment of principal and interest on securities backed by loans insured or guaranteed by other Government agencies.
As the private sector dramatically retreated in recent years, it was Ginnie Mae that stepped in and continued to facilitate the flow of private capital from global markets to the U.S. housing markets. Not only does it provide an outlet for the sale of government-insured or government-guaranteed loans, its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) offer the explicit full faith and credit guaranty of the U.S. government. This guaranty is highly attractive to investors and, to date, has kept demand high for Ginnie Mae MBS. The value that security holders place on guaranteed payments means that Ginnie Mae can ensure a consistent pool of funding for government-insured or government-guaranteed mortgage loans. This supports the economic stabilization efforts of Congress and the Obama Administration by making it possible for banks and financial institutions to continue mortgage lending.
Through these challenging times, Ginnie Mae has demonstrated its ability to be an effective and efficient conduit for bringing capital into the U.S. housing finance system with minimal risk to the taxpayer. It can do so because of a simple but powerful business model, which is inherently risk-averse, and supported by conservative and strong risk management practices. At the foundation of this model is the mortgage pass-through security backed by government-insured or government-guaranteed loans and issued by private lenders. It is these lenders who protect Ginnie Mae and taxpayers from risk; their capital stands in front of the Ginnie Mae guaranty, and they remain financially responsible for the securities they issue. Because the Ginnie Mae guaranty is in the fourth loss position – behind borrowers and their home equity, government-insured or government-guaranteed mortgage programs and the corporate resources of the Issuer – this has meant that even during the economic downturn, Ginnie Mae did not need government assistance. Notably, nearly every year since its inception more than 40 years ago, Ginnie Mae’s MBS has earned profits for the U.S. government and has been a critical element in stabilizing markets during all economic conditions.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, Ginnie Mae solidified its leadership role by sustaining its performance more robustly than ever before and by setting in place the foundation to scale with market demand. With certainty of purpose, Ginnie Mae has established market standards for securities transparency and disclosure, enhanced risk management and technology, and extended organizational capabilities to meet the needs of the secondary market and for future success.