FREDDIE MAC DONATES $100,000 TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY HOUSING TO HURRICANE CHARLEY VICTIMS

Company Also Offers Mortgage Relief

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (FRE: NYSE) is easing the burden for those 46,000 Florida families displaced by Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie. Freddie Mac is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support temporary housing for hurricane victims. In addition, Freddie Mac has asked mortgage servicers to extend payment relief to qualified borrowers in the areas affected by the storms.

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie, Freddie Mac wants to ensure that the affected families can keep their homes. We also wanted to ensure that families who are displaced have a temporary place to call home while they get back on their feet," explained Freddie Mac Chairman and CEO Dick Syron.

In addition, the Freddie Mac Foundation is doubling Freddie Mac employee donations that support families affected by the storms. Employee donations that specifically give to housing disaster relief will be matched three times, in effect quadrupling the value of the gift.

"Thanks to Freddie Mac's generosity, more families will have access to safe housing as they work to put their lives back together. Freddie Mac's immediate response helps the Red Cross provide life-saving services such as food, water and shelter. We appreciate the kindness and corporate leadership of Freddie Mac and its employees," said Skip Seitz, senior vice president, Growth and Integrated Development, American Red Cross National Headquarters.

The philanthropic effort is coupled with the company's announcement that families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by the storms can seek mortgage relief designed to protect their credit ratings and financial interests in their homes.

Freddie Mac is encouraging its mortgage servicers to provide borrowers with relief through the company's disaster relief guidelines, which give them the discretion to reduce or suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months for borrowers whose mortgages are owned by Freddie Mac. Each case will be individually assessed to determine which alternative will best fit the homeowner's circumstances.

In addition, Freddie Mac is strongly encouraging mortgage servicers to provide the additional following relief to borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans:

Waive the assessment of penalties or late fees against borrowers with disaster-damaged homes;
Not report forbearance or delinquencies caused by the disaster to the nation's credit bureaus; and
Expedite the release of insurance proceeds.
For more information on mortgage payment relief, homeowners should contact their mortgage servicer-the company to which they send their monthly mortgage payment-or call Freddie Mac at 800-FREDDIE.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities that are sold to investors. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and two million renters across America.

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