UPDATE:

Further research found that the Obama’s obtained a Land Trust Agreement with Northern Trust which means they did not receive a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan over the Federal limit.

It seems that Northern Trust became both the “borrower” and the “lender” regarding the Obama South Greenwood property. The Cook County Tax Assessment lists the “loan” as Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. What remains to be determined is the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan designation assigned to Northern Trust and what limits companies such as Northern Trust are limited to when seeking a loan.

The story was a clear cut case of jumping to a conclusion without all the facts. It seemed inconceivable that the Obamas would have obtained a loan that would have raised so many red flags. An apology is due to President-elect Obama and his wife, Michelle.

LBG

While researching an article about Obama’s Chicago home about the circumstances surrounding who is the “owner”, I happened across a bit of information: Obama’s home has a Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac mortgage to the tune of $1,320,000. (Page 5 of Cook County Property Assessment Record)

The information comes from the Cook County Clerk’s office where the “owner” of the Obama home is listed as William Miceli, a former supervisor of Obama’s when he worked at the David Law Firm.

What’s unusual about the Obama mortgage is that the upper limits of a Fannie Mae loan on a single family dwelling as of January, 2008, is $417,000 while mortgages in “high cost” areas cannot exceed $729,750.

The Obama’s mortage, through Northern Trust Company, is in the amount of $1,320,000.

The limits for a Freddie Mac single family dwelling is $417,000, with an upper tier of $625,500 for homes located in Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.

I looked into whether Cook County, Illinois, where the Obama home is located, and whether it is considered by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as a “high cost area”. I found this little snippet written by Lew Sichelman, of the Reality Times in 2004, a few months prior to the Obama’s purchasing their home:

Effective Jan. 1, the new FHA “ceiling” in high cost areas is 87 percent of the limit on loans which can be purchased by Freddie Mac. The Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae conventional loan limit rose to $359,650, also on Jan. 1. In most of the nation’s 3,300 other jurisdictions, the FHA “floor” is $172,632. But in about 530 places, the FHA maximum is somewhere in between $172,632 and $359,650.

The new limits already are the subject of controversy. For example, some Chicago area lenders already are grumbling that Jefferson County, a distant Washington area jurisdiction at best, is considered a high-cost area but Cook County, Ill., is not.

I took it one step further and entered the Obama’s South Greenwood address at Fannie Mae’s Loan Limit Geocoder. The results: Obama’s South Greenwood home was eligible for a maximum Fannie Mae loan of $417,000.

Click Image to Enlarge

I’m not sure how, but the Obama’s managed to procure a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mortage $903,000 over the legal limit.

UPDATE:

The site, Strato-Sphere, has various links relating to the Obama mortgage and Cook County documents.

When looking at the Obama home mortgage, which is separate from the lot, the paperwork has the notation: “Illinois Single Family – Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Uniform Instrument, Form 3014 1/01″.

Also interesting to note is that the mortgage document has the “stamp” of the Eugene “Gene” Moore, the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, dated 6/21/2005. The “borrower” is listed as Northern Trust Company as “Trustee of the Trust Agreement dated 5/10/2005 and known as Trust 10209″. The document has Northern Trust as both the “borrower” and the “lender”.

ALSO at DBKP: Obama’s Rezko Ties: Cook County Clerk’s Office Lists Attorney as Owner Of Obama Chicago Home

By LBG

Source – Strato-Sphere – Who owns Obama’s Home?
Image – Escher