The Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, has helped more than 50 million low- to middle-income families realize the American Dream. Like its brother Freddie Mac, the government-supported enterprise (GSE) provides liquidity in the mortgage market by buying mortgages from lenders and packaging them for resale, transferring risk from lenders and allowing them to offer mortgages to those who may not otherwise qualify. It owns or guarantees about more than $3 trillion in home loans, or nearly 30% of all outstanding residential mortgages in the US. Due to losses caused largely by the subprime mortgage crisis, the government seized both Fannie and Freddie in 2008. It plans to wind the GSEs down over time.