Housing Bubble
Freddie Mac mortgage relief for Hurricane Wilma borrowers
Freddie Mac has announced disaster relief policies for borrowers affected by Hurricane Wilma in federally declared major disaster areas. The company's disaster policies enable mortgage servicers to suspend mortgage payments or provide other short-term financial relief to borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages following a hurricane or other natural disaster. Servicers collect monthly mortgage payments on Freddie Mac's behalf.
Specifically, Freddie Mac gives servicers the discretion to reduce or suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months for borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages in the declared major-disaster areas. Each case is individually assessed to determine the borrower's situation and specific need for financial relief.
"By working together, Freddie Mac and the nation's mortgage servicers can help relieve borrower anxiety about making next months mortgage payment so they can focus their energies on rebuilding their lives and homes," said Richard F. Syron, Freddie Mac Chairman and CEO. "The relief measures we're announcing today are also intended to expedite the release of insurance proceeds to help borrowers secure materials, labor and other resources to get the home repair process underway."
Freddie Mac's disaster relief policies also strongly encourage servicers to extend several other measures to help affected borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans. These include:
- Expediting the release of insurance proceeds to help borrowers secure materials, labor and other resources to repair their homes
- Waiving assessments of penalties or late fees against borrowers with disaster-damaged homes
- Not reporting forbearance or delinquencies caused by the disaster to the nation's credit bureaus
"Our goal is simple: we want our servicers to help families affected by Hurricane Wilma keep their homes and protect their credit reputations by ensuring they have the authority of offer the appropriate relief to borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans without a lot of red tape," Syron added. "Congress created Freddie Mac to protect America's mortgage market from the shock of the unexpected. Empowering our servicers to help troubled borrowers does precisely that."
Mortgage servicers working with Freddie Mac have helped more than 100,000 families over the past two years from losing their homes due to financial difficulties.
For more information on mortgage payment relief, homeowners should contact their mortgage servicer - the company to which they send their monthly mortgage payment - or call Freddie Mac at (800) FREDDIE. Freddie Mac's general disaster relief policies are posted online at http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/relief.html.
