San Diego, CA - Freddie Mac
reported on Monday it is requiring its 2,300 credit union
and bank mortgage servicers to automatically extend
forbearance on late mortgage payments to soldiers recently
released from active duty.
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered
by Congress in 1970 to keep money flowing to mortgage
lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing.
Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily
residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities,
which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage pass
through securities and debt instruments in the capital
markets.
The company said it is extending forbearance to ensure
that lenders do not initiate or resume foreclosures for at
least 90 days from the borrower's release date. The change
is designed to give lenders more time to work with
servicemen and women to explore all options for mortgage
relief prior to foreclosure.
The new Freddie Mac mandate goes beyond the requirements
of the Service Members Civil Relief Act, which protects
soldiers from creditors only while they are on active
duty.
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