RIVERSIDE, Ohio (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was dismayed by reports that the ousted chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could receive multimillion-dollar severance packages.

"Yesterday, I sent a letter to (U.S. Treasury) Secretary (Henry) Paulson and (Federal Housing Finance Agency) Director (James) Lockart to make clear that it would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall at a time when U.S. Treasury has taken unprecedented steps to rescue these companies with taxpayer resources," Obama told reporters.

"I hope that the Treasury secretary is giving this matter serious consideration," he said.

On Sunday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the two mortgage finance companies, placed them into a government conservatorship, a plan hatched with the Treasury's assistance. As part of the rescue plan, Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron were replaced.

U.S. officials said they were concerned mounting losses at the two government-sponsored enterprises had so badly eroded their capital that they could no longer safely carry out their mission of supporting the housing sector. The companies own or guarantee own almost half of the country's $12 trillion in outstanding home mortgage debt.

Freddie Mac's Syron is entitled to about $14.1 million in severance and other payments as long as his employment is ended "without cause," according to an analysis by executive compensation consulting firm James F. Reda & Associates LLC.

Fannie Mae's Mudd stands to get a payout of nearly $9.3 million, including severance, pension benefits and deferred compensation, according to the calculations.

Obama said legislation Congress passed in July that gave the Treasury extraordinary authority to intervene at the two companies also gave the government the ability to deny "golden parachutes" in the event taxpayer funds were tapped to prop the companies up.

As part of the conservatorship plan announced on Sunday, the Treasury said it could take equity stakes in the companies that could grow to be as large as a combined $200 billion.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles in Riverside, Ohio, and Martha Graybow in New York; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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