The subprime mortgage crisis of the mid-2000s put much stress on federally-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two entities had been created decades ago (Fannie Mae during the Great Depression and Freddie Mac in 1970) to expand the market by selling mortgage-backed securities. That, of course, was a dicy proposition in 2007 and 2008 during the height of the subprime mortgage crisis.

Fannie and Freddie were effectively nationalized through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, being placed into conservatorship by the Treasury Department. The Federal Housing Finance Agency still controls the two companies, although Fannie and Freddie paid off the original loan and have been fairly profitable since.