Hurricane Sandy Foreclosure Relief Suspensions Extended

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The Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have extended the suspension of foreclosures and evictions against homeowners whose properties were damaged or destroyed due to Hurricane Sandy.

The additional 90-day foreclosure moratorium applies to homeowners who live in nine states and the District of Colombia where the president issued major disaster declarations after the October hurricane. Today’s announcement comes just as the original foreclosure suspensions were set to expire. 

All of the foreclosure relief suspensions apply to foreclosure notices scheduled to be filed and foreclosures already in process within the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared disaster areas.

This foreclosure and eviction suspension impacts borrowers who have homes secured by mortgages owned or guaranteed by the government agencies. The current deadline runs through April 30.

“Given the magnitude of this disaster, extending the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions will allow homeowners in the affected areas, and their servicers, the time needed to assess individual circumstances and options,” said Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. 

In addition to the foreclosure sale and eviction moratorium, mortgage borrowers impacted by Hurricane Sandy may also be eligible for forbearance, loan modifications or waived late payment charges.

“It’s all too clear that families need more time to get back on their feet without having a foreclosure or eviction hanging over their heads,” said HUD secretary Shaun Donovan, who serves as President Obama’s chairman of the Hurricane Sandy rebuilding task force. “As we work to rebuild after this historic storm, we’ll do everything we can to ease the crushing burden being faced by those homeowners, many of whom have been forced from their homes.”

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