FREDDIE MAC EXTENDS MORTGAGE RELIEF TO BORROWERS AFFECTED BY HURRICANE FRANCES

McLean, VA – Families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Frances can seek mortgage relief designed to protect their credit ratings and financial interests in their homes, Freddie Mac announced today.

"Freddie Mac and the nation's mortgage servicers are sensitive to the serious effects these disasters have on people's lives," said Freddie Mac Senior Vice President Mike May. "We are offering mortgage relief so the homeowners affected by the hurricane have one less thing to worry about."

Freddie Mac is encouraging its 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.

Last month, Freddie Mac also announced that it is providing the same relief for families whose homes were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Charley, and that it donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support temporary housing for hurricane victims.

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 more than two million renters across America.

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