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

[spunky5408]

Pat Bu is hysterical.

[GrkAm]

spunky . . . He can be something, that's for sure. But, OMG there was something in his voice today, and I nearly killed myself to get the remote "mute" button!!! DANG!

[Chillinout]

Buchanan is talking about protectionism. What happened to the free-market, free-trade, Republican mantra?

[WLA]

Discredited.

[GrouchoMarxist]

It failed utterly and completely.

[Chillinout]

Yeah it did, though I didn't think the Republicans had noticed.

[williamg]

Buchanan has never been a tree trade Republican. He's always been against NAFTA and other trade agreements.

[JettaBostonian]

Bukkklanan was never a free trader

[Ramirez]

Buchanan has always been a protectionist. You should have listened to him during the NAFTA debates.

Buchanan is an old-school Paleo-Conservative. Do not confuse him with the libertarian, neo-conservative school of Republican policy.

[williamg]

Agreed.

[SurferKit]

Gosh, thanks. What would we do if a tr0// didn't stop in to give us a lesson on blah blah blah blah.

[williamg]

In the end, if you are up to date and on-time with your mortgage, you will see little relief in restructuring your loan. But, if you are in default on your loan, you MAY find yourself getting help.

Just the way it is.

[dentuso]

I um.. I hope you like it.

So.... so what did you get me, the taxpayer? A sweater? Did you get me a sweater? No? An Ipod! You got me an... Okay maybe not.

[drricklippin]

Another Holiday Gift- PERSONAL BAILOUTS AVAILABLE! :)

I've been irresponsible, shortsighted, resistant to change, and lived and spent hedonistically way beyond my financial means due to very easily obtained credit. This is combined with my typical American addiction to materialism and consumerism.

Furthermore my health insurance premiums went up 110% over the past 3 years.

So now I am broke. Therefore I needed a personal bailout as soon as possible

Then I found www.ineedabailout.govv" on the worldwide web.

I went to this website, completed a simple application form, submitted it and, low and behold ,my personal bailout government check arrived a few days later in the US mail

So I say God Bless America- Uncle Sam has come through again for "the little guy"

Go to www.ineedabailout.govv"

Dr.Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa :)

[KO4Pres]

right!

[macbabe]

site is too busy, I can't get through LOL .. serious,
I am trying out of curiosity only, don't need.

[CheshireCat2]

My jumbo loan is with Countrywide. I guess I am scre-wed.

Wonder if Chris Dodd is taking calls?

[neuron]

Probably not from you...

[WLA]

Heh.

[rachelwebster]

Almost all banks do this every year- stop evicting people in Nov & Dec. that it- make no mistake that payments are still considered late and penalties and fees are accruing. If you were in foreclosure already you are still in foreclosure and if you skip your next 2 payments you'll be in foreclosure in January. The only reason this is even a story this year is because they need some positive P.R.

[SurferKit]

For 16,000 households it's just delaying the inevitable until Jan. 9th.

Someone should be held accountable for this mess.

:(

[Ramirez]

In previous years the homeowner has been held accountable.

[SurferKit]

Awwwww, thanks for pointing that out.

Have a cookie. {pat on head}

It's a Christmas cookie.

[HC4BO]

Suspending ... ?

Yeah , "Happy" homeless New Years ...

[oandjoe08]

awww....yo­u shouldn't have!!!

[Chillinout]

So what I get from this story is that if you want to re-negotiate your mortgage to a lower rate, don't make your house payments for three months.

[CheshireCat2]

You are exactly right. You have more leverage on the bank.

IT is crazy isn't it?

[CheshireCat2]

You are exactly right. You have more leverage on the bank.

IT is cr@zy isn't it?

[Chillinout]

Yep! But then again we are living in a crazy time.

[Ramirez]

That makes sense. It's kind of silly to make mortgage payments if you don't have to.

[Robespierre]

This is excellent news! Hopefully some of these folks will be able to get back on their feet again and rebuild from this.

[Obama4Life]

Why don't these c.lowns just admit THEIR screw up and give these people their homes free and start over.

They already got paid more or less by the bailout anyway.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Call Frank Capra, there's a movie in here somewhere.

[SurferKit]

A Hallmark moment?

[metoo]

Mad Max?

[Woodmist]

All of this just makes me angry. The darn private financial institutions that originally gave these loans deserve to burn in hell. They didn't care if the borrower couldn't afford it...they gave it to them anyway. Then repackaged it and got a ratings group to state it's AAA abd then Fannie and Freddie bought them..secu­ritization my butt. Well, at least they will have a home for Xmas.