Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were improperly prevented from increasing their guaranty fees for years during the GSEs’ conservatorship after the federal government unconstitutionally seized control of the two companies during the 2008 financial crisis and the lower fees cost investors billions of dollars, according to a federal lawsuit filed by GSE shareholders last week. The plaintiffs – including the City of Austin (Texas) Police Retirement System and Washington Federal, a Seattle-based bank – filed a class-action suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. The GSE shareholders seek some $41 billion in damages for what they claim was the government’s violation of their 5th Amendment rights that prohibit taking of private property for public use “without just compensation.”