Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac today announced eviction moratoriums for the holidays, designed to help buy struggling homeowners time to explore their options.
Fannie Mae [1] will suspend evictions of foreclosed single-family properties during the holiday season from December 18, 2017, through January 2, 2018. This suspension applies to single-family and 2-4 unit properties. The moratorium doesn’t stop legal and administrative proceedings for evictions, but families will be allowed to stay in their homes during the process.
"We’re taking steps to support families and to extend the timeline of help for struggling borrowers during the holidays," said Jacob Williamson, VP of Single-Family Distressed Assets at Fannie Mae. "We also encourage homeowners who may be struggling with their mortgage to reach out to Fannie Mae or their servicer to get help. Options are available to avoid foreclosure, and we want to help pursue those options whenever possible.”
Homeowners can visit www.knowyouroptions.com [2] for resources on how to prevent foreclosure, including how to find out if Fannie Mae owns their loan. Homeowners also can contact Fannie Mae at 1-800-232-6643 for more information.
On the Freddie Mac [3] side of things, Freddie announced a nationwide suspension of eviction lock-outs during that same window of December 18, 2017, through January 2, 2018. The moratorium applies to all foreclosed, occupied homes owned by Freddie Mac.
Yvette Gilmore, Freddie Mac's VP of Single-Family Servicer Performance Management, said in a statement, “As we have done in past years, we are suspending evictions over the holidays. For borrowers who may be experiencing financial challenges we strongly urge them to contact their mortgage servicer to explore one of the Freddie Mac workout options."
Freddie also confirmed that it has “suspended all foreclosure sales in eligible disaster areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.”