Fannie, Freddie, Suspend Foreclosure Sales

Washington, DC, Nov. 21, 2008--Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced Thursday they have ordered mortgage servicers and foreclosure attorneys to suspend foreclosure sales and evictions for certain properties in an attempt to keep some struggling homeowners in their homes through the holidays.

"Freddie Mac is on track to help three out of every five troubled borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans avoid foreclosure this year," Freddie Mac Chief Executive David Moffett said in a statement.

"Today's announcement builds on this momentum and provides a new measure of certainty to many of these families during the holidays."

The government-controlled mortgage companies said they are ordering a national network of mortgage servicers and foreclosure attorneys to prohibit the sale of foreclosed homes for single-family and two- to four-unit properties with mortgages owned by the two entities.

The suspension of foreclosure sales was motivated, in part, by a desire by Freddie Mac to allow mortgage-service firms to take additional time to work with borrowers as part of its Streamlined Modification mortgage program, scheduled to launch on Dec. 15.