Bell State Bank SVP Tim Rath Appointed to Fannie Mae Advisory Board

Bell State Bank & Trust has announced that Senior Vice President Tim Rath has been appointed to the Fannie Mae 2013 West Region Customer Advisory Board. As part of the appointment, Rath will join a roundtable held twice a year to discuss concerns, trends, new laws, marketing executions and other elements of the mortgage industry as it pertains to Fannie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association. Fannie Mae is the leading source of residential mortgage credit in the U.S. secondary market and responsible for maintaining a secondary market in home mortgages. Fannie Mae ensures mortgages meet specific criteria and can be readily traded among lending institutions and investment banks therefor increasing the ability of lenders to provide long term mortgages. For consumers this typically means lower mortgage rates. As a member of the Fannie Mae Advisory Board, Rath attends two advisory board meetings per year where industry leaders get a snapshot of how the economy, current events and other factors are affecting Fannie Mae. The advisory board compiles recommendations to present to Fannie Mae with their insight on the health of the housing market and mortgage trends in each participant’s coverage area. Recovery programs have dominated the dialogue over the past few years while upcoming conversations will likely include details on progress of these recovery programs. “It’s a very educational process,” says Rath. “I find the insight is not only interesting, but quite valuable to our local industry and our clients.”