The government has "taken over" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (which hold about 50% of the country's mortgages) to help provide more money to be available to lend (that is the abbreviated version!). But your important question is, "but what does it mean to me?". The goal is to help prevent home prices from declining any further. Essentially, the government is inserting more money into the mortgage market and that will lower interest rates (already below 6% just today) and make more people eligible to borrow money which will increase demand. You still have to pay your mortgage. No one is going to get their home for free. However, if you are in danger of foreclosure, you may get an opportunity to refinance at a lower rate or to extend your mortgage payments to lower your monthly bill.
