Macomb County and county Treasurer Ted Wahby claim in the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit that the pair of entities failed to pay the fee as both the “grantor” and “grantee” on deed transfers and mortgage transactions here.

The county contends the two entities falsely claimed they were exempt from the transfer tax because they’re part of the federal government, sometimes citing state law and other times citing federal law. However, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are federally chartered private corporations and not government entities,” the county says in the lawsuit.

[THE DAILY TRIBUNE]