Freddie Extends Katrina Relief to Guard

Freddie Mac has instructed its 2,300 mortgage servicers to extend immediate relief to all National Guard members on state duty involving Hurricane Katrina recovery operations.The servicers are required to offer relief comparable to that already available to other members of the armed forces under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. SCRA protects active-duty service personnel from foreclosure and interest rates in excess of 6%, but National Guard members are not covered unless they are called to state duty in response to a national emergency declared by the president, Freddie Mac said. "Until such a declaration is made, Freddie Mac is instructing its servicers to give National Guard personnel the same SCRA credit protections anyway," the government-sponsored enterprise said. Freddie Mac said it is also reminding servicers to ensure that SCRA protections are available to active-duty and reserve military personnel covered by the law as well as officers of the U.S. Public Health Service. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.