With state and local lawsuits against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seeking payment for real estate transfer taxes from which the GSEs assert they are exempt, an industry attorney says the endgame for enterprise and municipality alike won’t come from the courts but from the other two branches of government at the highest level. Last month, Spokane, WA, and Montgomery County, MD, joined a growing list of local governments to file suit against the two GSEs for unpaid taxes, challenging Fannie’s and Freddie’s claim that the firms are exempt under their federal charter from transfer taxes in connection with the recording of deeds upon transfer of property by sale or foreclosure.