Freddie says TBW-related loss may grow, files claim

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac, the U.S. mortgage finance giant, said on Monday it is seeking $595 million in loan payments and other funds hung up after the bankruptcy of lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Freddie Mac (FRE.N) (FRE.P) said it filed a proof of claim for the money that "should remain" on deposit with Colonial Bank, the failed financial institution used by Taylor Bean as it collected mortgage principal and interest payments from borrowers, according to a regulatory filing.

The claim could add to the fallout from the Taylor Bean bankruptcy, which came after the government suspended its relationship with the firm. Freddie Mac has previously said its exposure to Taylor Bean's obligations to repurchase loans was about $500 million as of September 30.

While total exposures to Taylor Bean are unknown, "the amount of additional losses related to such exposures could be significant," the McLean, Virginia-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ocala, Florida-based Taylor Bean, which was the nation's 12th-largest U.S. mortgage lender from January to June, filed for protection from creditors in August.

Losses faced from Taylor Bean or Colonial would compound troubles for Freddie Mac, which as the second-largest U.S. provider of home funding is reeling from losses as the housing crisis unfolds. They may add to what the company needs from the U.S. Treasury, which since late 2008 has supplied $52 billion to keep the company solvent and active in the housing market.

The Federal Housing Administration suspended Taylor Bean earlier in August, citing its failure to submit a required annual financial report, its having "misrepresented" that it had no unresolved issues with its auditor and "irregular transactions that raised concerns of fraud."

U.S. regulators seized Colonial's banking operations on August 14 and sold its assets to BB&T Corp (BBT.N), the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based regional bank.

Taylor Bean has said it could not access its Colonial bank accounts and was in talks with the FDIC to let it process payments for its mortgage borrowers.

Freddie Mac's claims on funds with Colonial, or the FDIC as Colonial's receiver, include mortgage payoffs and taxes and insurance payments received by Taylor Bean as a loan servicer, it said in the filing.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Dan Grebler)