Moratorium has been extended for several months
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has approved the extension of the nationwide ban on single-family real estate owned (REO) evictions through September.
The agency required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to extend the REO eviction moratorium, which applies to properties that have been acquired by the GSEs through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions, for another two months. The current moratorium was set to expire on July 31.
The move came just a day before the Center for Disease Control’s eviction ban was scheduled to lapse. The FHFA also said that the extension was part of its efforts to help struggling homeowners and renters during the pandemic. Last week, the Biden administration unveiled a new mortgage relief program designed to lower their principal and interest payments by up to 25%.
Read more: Biden rolls out enhanced mortgage aid – can it curb foreclosure spike?
“The pandemic continues to have an outsized impact on the ability of Americans to meet their monthly rent or mortgage payments,” said FHFA acting director Sandra Thompson. “Today’s extension of the eviction moratorium protects particularly vulnerable Americans who otherwise would be at risk of losing a place to live.”
