Mortgage company offers relief to homeowners affected by recent flooding

April 21, 2010 - In response to recent flooding on the East Coast, Freddie Mac has announced it will extend mortgage relief options to homeowners whose houses have been damaged by inclement weather.

Families who live in federally declared Major Disaster Areas are eligible to apply for these policies, which could allow them to use their monthly mortgage payments to pay for home maintenance and repair projects. Qualifying locations include parts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and West Virginia.

The mortgage company is encouraging lending institutions that manage Freddie Mac-owned home loans to award relief to disaster-stricken homeowners on an individual basis. After they perform an assessment, servicers have the liberty to decide whether each applicant qualifies for a reduction to, or suspension of, their mortgage payments.

Ingrid Beckles, senior vice president of default asset management for Freddie Mac, said that her company is working with lending institutions to help "borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages to receive forbearance on their mortgage payments for up to one year."

The corporation is also encouraging servicers to consider other options that will benefit homeowners who have been affected by flooding, including waiving assessments of penalties of late fees, not reporting forbearance or delinquencies to credit bureaus as well as suspending foreclosure and eviction proceedings for up to 12 months.