This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fannie Mae. All opinions are 100% mine.

Lately I’ve been fascinated by the financial crisis of 2008, mostly because so much of it was the result of extraordinarily complex products running wildly out of control. Any student of complexity (entrepreneurs, small business owners, product designers) should study this crisis because many of the mistakes that were made were pure human error and we all run the risk of similar slip ups on our own patches of dirt if we don’t pay attention.

My favorite book so far has been All The Devils Are Here by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, it’s the first book to take a step by step look at what went wrong and how the fuse on this powder keg was lit well before anyone had even heard of subprime.

What does any of this have to do with Fannie Mae? They play a central role in the book as both the victim and villain of the times they lived in (they started slinging subprime after everyone else did) and as one of the only bodies with enough muscle to start cleaning up the mess of foreclosures and home losses that has been the fallout. Which is why I thought it was interesting when the folks at IZEA showed me KnowYourOptions.com, a new portal they have put together to help home owners deal with foreclosure.

On the site they discuss short sales, deed-in-lieu’s and a variety of other ways to get out of a home that is underwater. While it is not exactly a masters class, it does provide some pretty useful information along with step-by-step guides and videos for those who drown in financial jargon.

It is also a step in the right direction for the company as a whole. The crisis of ’08 was a PR debacle for the entire financial services industry and Fannie Mae is no exception. By publicly recognizing (even in this small, indirect way) their place in the cast of characters that lead to this crisis they can start rebuilding some of the trust they have lost and maybe help a few homeowners rebuild their lives in the process.

So if you find yourself interested in the financial crisis, read All The Devil’s Are Here. If you find yourself trying to dig yourself out of a mortgage, check out Know Your Options. Regardless, you should definitely at least bounce to their section on scams — there is some great information here on avoiding the cottage industry of scam artists who want to “help” with your foreclosure.

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