They also guarantee third-party mortgages.

The bill authorized $300 billion to guarantee mortgages and restore confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The State Department of Housing cooperated by guaranteeing fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages to buyers at sliding rates of 4 to 8 percent, depending on income levels.

Over time, the GSEs were permitted to guarantee riskier mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.

The program competes with private mortgage insurance companies, which charge fees to guarantee mortgages.

Because Fannie Mae's business is guaranteeing mostly fixed-rate mortgages, its continued growth depends on the strength of that market.

In 1992 Congress authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development to guarantee mortgages on reservations, which began to ease banks' reluctance to lend.

They will not be allowed to be involved in any other business other than guaranteeing mortgages.

Most of the $1 billion included in the plan to guarantee mortgages or rentals is already included in long-range Pentagon budget projections.

And she said the New York State Mortgage Agency was unwilling to guarantee mortgages until subsidies were in place.