For the third year in a row, Freddie Mac—through its servicers—will suspend foreclosure evictions during the last two weeks of December.
Moreover, National Mortgage News has learned that Fannie Mae will follow suit with a similar moratorium. Both government-sponsored enterprises will instruct foreclosure attorneys to suspend evictions from December 20 through January 3.
The moratorium applies to occupied single family and two-to-four unit properties with mortgages owned by Fannie or Freddie. The suspension is only on evictions, not foreclosure or REO sales, the latter of which was
"If the property is occupied, our foreclosure attorneys will suspend the eviction to provide a greater measure of certainty to families during the holidays," said Anthony Renzi, Freddie Mac's executive vice president of single-family portfolio management, in a press statement.
In 2009, the GSEs suspended foreclosure evictions from December 19 through January 3. In 2008, the eviction suspension began the day before Thanksgiving and was scheduled to run through January 9, 2009, but was later extended to January 31.
"Consistent with our practice in previous years, families will not be evicted from their homes during the holiday season," a Fannie Mae spokesperson told NMN.
