After latest quarterly loss, Freddie Mac seeks new aid

WASHINGTON - Freddie Mac is asking for $10.6 billion in new federal aid after posting a big loss in the first three months of the year. It's another sign that the taxpayer bill for stabilizing the housing market will keep mounting.

The McLean, Va., mortgage-finance company has been effectively owned by the government after nearly collapsing in September 2008. The latest aid request will bring the total tab for rescuing Freddie Mac to $61.3 billion.

Freddie Mac said Wednesday that it lost $8 billion, or $2.45 a share, in the January-to-March period. That takes into account $1.3 billion in dividends paid to the Treasury Department. It compares with a loss of $10.4 billion, or $3.18 a share, in the first quarter a year earlier.

The company, however, cautioned that new accounting standards made it difficult to compare the most recent quarter with the year-earlier period. In the first quarter of this year, Freddie Mac was forced to bring $1.5 trillion in assets and liabilities onto its balance sheet, causing the company's net worth to plunge $11.7 billion.

Nevertheless, company chief executive officer Charles Haldeman said, "we are seeing some signs of stabilization in the housing market, including house prices and sales in some key markets, Haldeman said in a prepared statement.

He cautioned, though, that the housing market "remains fragile with historically high delinquency and foreclosure levels, and high unemployment among the key risks."

Created by Congress, Freddie Mac and sibling company Fannie Mae buy mortgages from lenders and package them into bonds that are resold to global investors.

Freddie's new request will bring the total taxpayer tab for both companies to about $126 billion.