Fannie Mae is in need of another $15 billion in federal assistance, which brings its total to more than $75 billion. The worse is that the mortgage finance company warned its losses will continue this year.

The salvage of Fannie Mae and sister company Freddie Mac is turning out to be one of the most expensive results of the financial meltdown. The new request means the total bill for the duo will top $126 billion.

The twinge is not yet over. Fannie warned last Friday that it will need even more money from the Treasury, as unemployment remains high and millions of Americans lose their homes through foreclosure.

Fannie Mae reported Friday that it lost $74.4 billion, or $13.11 a share, last year, including $2.5 billion in dividends paid to the government. That compares with a loss of $59.8 billion, or $24 a share, a year earlier.

Late last year, the Obama administration guaranteed to cover unlimited losses through 2012 for Freddie and Fannie, lifting an earlier cap of $400 billion.

Earlier in the week, Freddie reported a loss of almost $26 billion for last year. The company did not request any more money, but is expected to do so later this year.

Fannie and Freddie play a vital role in the mortgage market by purchasing mortgages from lenders and selling them to investors. Together the pair own or guarantee almost 31 million home loans worth about $5.5 trillion. That is about half of all mortgages.