The Federal National Mortgage Association, widely known as Fannie Mae, serves a crucial role in providing financial stability and liquidity to the United States' mortgage market. It accomplishes this by taking mortgage loans originated by various lenders and packaging them into Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The company's operations are divided into two primary segments: Single-Family and Multifamily. The Single-Family division acquires and securitizes a broad spectrum of residential home loans. This includes conventional fixed or adjustable-rate first-lien mortgages, as well as loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the USDA's Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Program, and financing for manufactured homes. Additionally, this segment offers mortgage servicing along with credit risk and loss management solutions. The Multifamily segment focuses on similar activities for apartment complexes and other multi-unit residential properties, converting these loans into Fannie Mae MBS. It also bolsters the creditworthiness of bonds issued by state and local housing finance authorities that fund multifamily housing projects. Beyond this, the segment is involved in issuing structured MBS backed by its multifamily securities, trading multifamily agency MBS, investing in low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) multifamily developments, and providing specialized underwriting, servicing, and risk management for multifamily mortgages. Fannie Mae's extensive network of clients includes mortgage banking companies, savings and loan associations, commercial banks, credit unions, insurance firms, private mortgage originators, and state and local housing finance agencies. The institution was established in 1938 and maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C.