Hennepin County Sues Fannie & Freddie For $10 Million
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Hennepin County has filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Friday morning.
County attorney Mike Freeman says he wants to bring justice to people who were harmed by what he calls "reckless behavior" by the two lenders during the housing boom.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acquired an unusually large number of properties through foreclosure during the housing crisis. They later resold many of those properties.
Freeman says the two lenders failed to pay the Minnesota Deed Transfer Tax, and that failure cost Minnesota counties millions of dollars.
"Their argument is they're exempt because they're a federal instrumentality…We don't believe that's accurate. We believe that Fannie and Freddie, just like any homeowner, ought to pay that tax," Freeman said.
This class action lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of all Minnesota counties.
