"FHFA must take immediate action to improve servicer reporting, which will in turn help the agency to ensure that escalated cases are resolved," the inspector general's office said in the report. "Strengthened oversight — through actions aimed specifically at improving servicer compliance with escalated case requirements — can benefit homeowners, Freddie Mac, and ultimately taxpayers." Freddie Mac, which has operated under U.S. conservatorship since it was seized along with Fannie Mae during the 2008 credit crisis, by the end of 2012 owned or guaranteed about 10.6 million residential mortgages with a combined unpaid principal balance of $1.6 trillion, according to the report. "Today's report reveals the latest in a sorry string of failures by FHFA leadership to protect American homeowners," Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland said in a statement.