Freddie Mac’s full menu of disaster relief policies will be available to homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Matthew. Freddie Mac’s disaster relief policies will be available to borrowers with homes in presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs are made available to affected individuals and households. Until then, servicers may leverage Freddie Mac’s forbearance programs to provide immediate mortgage relief to borrowers affected by this devastating storm.
Freddie Mac is one of the nation’s largest investors in residential mortgages.
“We strongly encourage the many American families whose homes or businesses are being impacted by Hurricane Matthew to call their mortgage servicer once the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s declaration is announced,” says Yvette Gilmore, Freddie Mac’s Vice President of Single-Family Servicer Performance Management. “Relief — including forbearance on mortgage payments for up to one year — may be available if their mortgage is owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac.”
Freddie Mac disaster relief policies authorize mortgage servicers to help affected borrowers in presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs have been extended. A list of these areas can be found at http://www.fema.gov/disasters.
Freddie Mac mortgage relief options for affected borrowers in these areas include: Suspending foreclosures by providing forbearance 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.
Freddie Mac is also reminding servicers to consider borrowers who work in eligible disaster areas, but have homes in unaffected areas, for Freddie Mac’s standard relief policies, which include forbearance or mortgage modifications.
Affected borrowers should immediately contact their mortgage servicer — the company to which they send their monthly mortgage payment.
For more information, visit http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/service.
