Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders sued the U.S., alleging that the 2008 takeover of the housing lending giants was illegal and cost investors billions of dollars, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The takeover of the mortgage companies by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, “while beneficial to the economic welfare of the nation, destroyed the value of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s common and preferred stock and trampled the private ownership rights” of shareholders, according to the complaint filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. The shareholders’ complaint, seeking $41 billion in damages, was filed by the Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. Investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have taken a renewed interest in the companies’ future now that they have started posting record profits as the housing market rebounds. Fannie Mae had its best year ever in 2012, reporting net income of $17.2 billion for 2012. Freddie Mac, the smaller of the two, reported earning $11 billion last year. Both have said they expect to remain profitable.
