Freddie Mac Extends Mortgage Relief to Borrowers Affected by Hurricane Irene

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac's (OTC: FMCC) full menu of relief policies for borrowers affected by disaster is being extended to homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Irene and are located in counties that the President has declared to be Major Disaster Areas and where he has made federal Individual Assistance programs available to affected individuals and households. Freddie Mac is one of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages.
"Freddie Mac has authorized the nation's mortgage servicers to provide a full range of mortgage relief options to affected borrowers with mortgages owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac," said Anthony Renzi, Executive Vice President of Single-Family Business, Operations and Technology at Freddie Mac. "Forbearance on mortgage payments for up to one year are among the options our servicers have been instructed to offer borrowers on a case-by-case basis."
Freddie Mac disaster relief policies provide a number of ways for mortgage servicers to help affected borrowers in the Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs have been extended.
Freddie Mac, for example, gives servicers the discretion to reduce or suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months for borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages that have been affected by a disaster. Each case must be individually assessed to determine what assistance will best fit the homeowner's circumstances.
Freddie Mac also strongly encourages servicers to help affected borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans by:

• Suspending foreclosure and eviction proceedings for up to 12 months;
• Waiving assessments of penalties or late fees against borrowers with disaster-damaged homes; and
• Not reporting forbearance or delinquencies caused by the disaster to the nation's credit bureaus.

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/service/disastermgmt.html.
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.
SOURCE Freddie Mac