First Horizon Reaches Settlement With Freddie Mac

By Andrew R. Johnson 

Tennessee-based lender First Horizon National Corp. said Thursday it reached an agreement in a dispute over home loans it sold to government-backed mortgage firm Freddie Mac.

The amount that First Horizon will pay to settle its differences with Freddie Mac wasn't disclosed, though the bank said in a regulatory filing that the agreement and other legal developments will result in a reduction in the company's profit for 2013.

The agreement is the latest in a string of settlements that banks have reached with Freddie Mac and its larger sibling, Fannie Mae.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae don't lend money to consumers, but buy mortgages from banks and sell them to investors in the form of securities. The firms' agreements allow them to require banks to buy back loans that don't meet underwriting guidelines.

Those so-called representation and warranty requests have been a major headache for banks since the financial crisis. Last year, several lenders, including Fifth Third Bancorp., SunTrust Banks Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. reached agreements with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to resolve such requests.

First Horizon said in October that it had set aside $200 million in its reserves for loan repurchases based on an agreement it had reached with Fannie Mae and estimates for future losses related to Freddie Mac.

Write to Andrew R. Johnson at [e-mail]

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