Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Halting Foreclosures During Holidays

WASHINGTON — Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures for about 16,000 households during the holiday season.

The two companies said Thursday that they will halt foreclosure sales between Nov. 26 and Jan. 9, while they evaluate whether borrowers qualify for a new loan modification program announced last week.

Fannie Mae said about 10,000 households would be affected, while Freddie Mac said the changes would affect about 6,000 borrowers who are facing foreclosure. The change does not apply to vacant homes.

The announcement "provides a new measure of certainty to many of these families during the holidays," Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett said in a release.

Both Fannie and Freddie were seized by the government on Sept. 7. The companies' former CEOs were ousted and the government now has direct control over the pair.

Fannie and Freddie's loan modification plan aims to help abate the foreclosure crisis by aiding homeowners who have fallen at least three months behind on their payments, but only if their loans are held by the two companies.

Under the program, the new primary mortgage payments _ including taxes and insurance _shouldn't total more than 38 percent of homeowners' pretax monthly income.

Fannie and Freddie are the dominant players in the U.S. mortgage market but hold only 20 percent of delinquent loans. Ultimately about 400,000 households are likely to qualify for the loan modification program, according to Priya Misra, a mortgage analyst with Barclays Capital.

By contrast, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimates that more than 4.4 million borrowers will become delinquent by the end of next year, not including loans backed by Fannie and Freddie.

Comments

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

I think Gov. Palin should have took some time away from her turkey k i l l ing and mocked community organizing again.

That would have been awesome.

[MichiganJFrog]

"Great" it would have been "great".

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

OH my bad.

What a great error I made.

[CBS]

Will we ever be free of this woman??? Help!!!!!

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

I think one day in our great country we will rid ourselves from our great embarrassment of Gov. Palin.

[GrouchoMarxist]

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "Dude, who the hell are you trying to kid? We're still fvcked."

[mdmpo]

OMG - were they kil.ling a turkey as her backdrop?

[MichiganJFrog]

Naw, that was a turkey massaging machine. They LOVE it.

[CBS]

Yes, it is Sister Sarah's message to what she plans to do to the GOP :)

[ralph10]

LOL

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

Great is Gov. Palin's favorite adjective.

[MIMom]

Someone tell me - what exactly is that dude doing to that turkey?

She wanted that as a backdrop? Oh g-d.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

I'm thinking he put that turkey in a wood chipper like in Fargo.

[RobertaInCT]

"off with it's head!"

[GrouchoMarxist]

Isn't that great?

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

It's all so very great, Groucho. This great country and on this great website discussing our great democracy.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

Is that a bootleg Burberry scarf that Gov. Palin is wearing?

It doesn't look like mine.

[MIVOTE]

16,000 up against 765,000. Is that math right? I guess starting somewhere is better than not starting at all. :-|

[kay]

I think they're doling them out to reduce supply on the housing market.

But, that's cynical. I don't think it's charitable.

[GrouchoMarxist]

I think you're right. More foreclosures would just devalue the market even further.

[HappyIdiot51]

Hey don't be messin' with their Christmases. They need those new fangled things.

[kay]

"The six men are among a group of Guantánamo inmates who won a Supreme Court ruling that the detainees have constitutional rights and can seek release in federal court. The 5-4 decision said a 2006 law unconstitutionally stripped the prisoners of their right to contest their imprisonment in habeas corpus lawsuits."

Just a reminder: that decision was 5-4. Had it gone the other way, the five men released today after being held for 7 years would not have had a hearing.

One vote.

[SCG]

Wait until the public hears the details of Guantánamo .

[kay]

I have this wish for Obama. He has a sort of nifty philosophy on "transparency". He (apparently) thinks that if the info GETS OUT it sort of leads to accountability, in an almost organic way. I'm taken with that idea. It's a great thing, if it works.

[strangerinthenight]

Indeed a good news. Hopefully, our government will soon restore our rights that were summarily dismissed by Bush, Cheney and Antonio Gonzales.

I wonder what impact will Obama's presidency will do for these Supreme Court nominations. Do you know ?

[SaviourMachine]

Who he'll tap for SC remains to be seen.

But I believe there are 2 to possibly 3 openings looming on the horizon.

[Rumplestiltskin]

Release them all? You want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in your neighborhood? What do you do with the real ones captured around the world without our Miranda protections, and rules of evidence that aren't US citizens, and whose crimes did not occur here?

[JettaBostonian]

If their crimes didn't occur here, they shouldn't be tried here or in our custody here.

[kay]

I didn't say "release them all" and you know it. I said "a hearing".

Today was the first hearing, Odd. "Thin as a reed". The State's evidence. That's what the judge said, and he's a Bushie judge.

What if that hearing hadn't happened? Doesn't it make your palms sweat to think of being held for 7 years WITHOUT A HEARING?

[ralph10]

They're releasing all the prisoners?

[MNmommy]

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is locked up in that horrid prison in Colorado isn't he?

[SaviourMachine]

Only by one.
{Shakes head}

[GrouchoMarxist]

That's why electing Obama was so important. I mean, it was important for a lot of reasons, but the Court is a big one.

[moosha]

MNMommy - from what I understand, UE benefits were extended back in July and are in effect until March 09 for an extra 13 weeks. If your state has 3 months of 6.5% unemployment (mine's at 7.3%) it's automatically extended for 26 weeks. Did I miss something new today??

[MNmommy]

Yes you did miss something today:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/20/senate.jobless/

[HappyIdiot51]

By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last update: 4:57 p.m. EST Nov. 20, 2008Comments: 9
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Senate approved a House bill to extend unemployment benefits by at least seven weeks on Thursday, sending the measure to President Bush on the same day the Labor Department reported continuing claims for jobless benefits hit a 26-year high

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/senate-extends-unemployment-benefits/story.aspx?guid={1F927B1D-0424-4AF3-B62E-2695343E729F}&dist=msr_26

[MIMom]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/20/news/economy/unemployment_benefits/index.htm?postversion=2008112018

Unemployed? More help for you
The Congress has extended benefits for out of work Americans. Here are 5 things every worker should know about their unemployment check.

[USAisEVIL]

One last Christmas to enjoy their homes. The united states, circling the drain, the end of the empire. Soon the whole country will see how it feels to lose it all, and at last you may have some real understanding of the suffering you have caused around the world. You are broke, and you went broke spending trillions on war in your final decade of prosperity. You are in too deep and will not climb back to stability.

[SCG]

Merry Christmas.

[HeIsTheOne]

Yes we can.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Yes we can.

[HappyIdiot51]

You are WRONG!

[Shieldmaiden]

Osama bin Laden - is that you???

[CC1]

No, just a wanna-be.

[myangeldog1]

Merry Christmas to you too sunshine.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

kay
"Why not? We all know this is terrible. Not the appointment, although that's terrible, in my opinion. The spin and drama. How can it possibly be good?

How does Clintonian drama help matters? How is this a positive development?

I'm all ears."

**************************************************************************************************************

Are you kidding me, Kay?

I am against this. How can you have confidence in someone who leaked to the media about being "conflicted" and "torn" about leaving the Senate?

What kind of confidence does that display? It's all drama all day and all night. Why feed the media?

Another thing, if O offered her the position, shouldn't her feelings about leaving her current post be reserved for O and not the NYTimes and Andrea Mitchell?

Hilda is as subtle as Hurricane Katrina.

[kay]

I don't know what it is. The Clintons have always baffled me. They're the kind of people who drive me crazy at work. I never "get" all that. I'm always like "they want WHAT? Who knew? Not me!"

[MIMom]

[Hilda is as subtle as Hurricane Katrina.]

No doubt.

[Gotcha54]

If they go so far as to reduce their principle it sure makes me wonder why I played by the rules of old and bought a home that was affordable to my income. Surely I would have loved a more expensive home in a better area but I simply "couldn't afford it". What a concept!

[MNmommy]

So, since I was all distracted by Detroit and three separate planes and no plans and such - I TOTALLY forgot that UE Benefits were not extended. Didn't the Dynamic Duo promise that that would get done as soon as they got back to DC after the election?

WTF happened?

[GrouchoMarxist]

I thought they voted on that???

[MNmommy]

Did I miss it?

[JettaBostonian]

2 Hours ago:

Senate votes to extend jobless benefits
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/20/senate.jobless/

[MNmommy]

See what happens when I take the kid to dance?

::blush::

[SCG]

Try not to watch events too closely, congress is like bad kabuki theater. Jan 20th is in intense planning, we won't have to suffer many of these f.ools very much longer.

[MIMom]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/20/news/economy/unemployment_benefits/index.htm?postversion=2008112018

[MannyNJ]

Gee thanks Obama! Some change... things just got even worse.

[trollslayer]

He's not in office yet. Thank Bush.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

I wish he could fix it so that you are not allowed to post.

That would be change I can believe in.

[SaviourMachine]

Let me give you your next stoopid talking point.

O is to blame for the fall of the Roman Empire.

[GrouchoMarxist]

You wingnuts really do believe that he has magical Harry Potter powers, don't you?

[PixieThis]

does President-Elect Obama also have the Clinton time machine?

[Chillinout]

They seem to have a worse messianic complex about Obama than any of his supporters ever had. They seem to think that he has the power to do anything, except for good of course.

[dentuso]

Is.... is this the first time in history that a President has been blamed prior to taking office?

Just curious.

[Rumplestiltskin]

Nah, I've seen people here blame Reagan for the tax rates from the Carter Administration.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

If Obama names his Sec. of Treasury and he leaks to the media that he feels "torn" and "conflicted" about leaving his current post, how much confidence will we have in him to do a good job?

Shouldn't you want the job? Should you be telling the press that you are "torn" and "conflicted" about leaving your current post? Shouldn't that be reserved for the person who actually offered you the job?

We have serious problems. Get out of our way and let someone else have the job.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Look on the bright side...maybe that means she wants to stay in the Senate.

[BreakfastatTiffanys1]

I am looking on the bright side, Groucho. Sad isn't it?

I am sick of this.

[trollslayer]

Maybe it means she's trying to make it seem like she's doing him a favor when she forces him into taking her. ;-)

[pinkc24]

Hillary was never offered the job, I was. I am torn and conflicted about leaving my prestigious job at the Texas Roadhouse.

Learn the facts before you speak, wench

[trollslayer]

Obama opened Pandora's box.

[SaviourMachine]

It's in keeping with her inability to make a decision re; the 3am ad.

[MNmommy]

Since nothing is sourced - I wouldn't take much in print, online or on teevee as DOG's truth.

[GypsyRose]

Grandma got run over by a foreclosure
Walking home from our "house" Christmas eve...

Catchy tune?

[GrouchoMarxist]

Everyone will be singing it this year...

[Rumplestiltskin]

I liked the original as the best country song ever, but you may be on to something. In the new version she had to be working for Ford or GM didn't she?

[GypsyRose]

Ha ha, quite possibly. Or, she's a retiree and just looked at her 401K statement. Yikes!