This is the third time the FHFA has extended the moratoriums
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has once again extended moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would extend their moratoriums on single-family foreclosures and real estate-owned evictions until at least Dec. 31. The foreclosure moratorium applies to GSE-backed single-family mortgages. The REO eviction moratorium applies to properties that have been acquired by Fannie or Freddie through foreclosure of deed-in-lieu of foreclosure transactions.
“To help keep borrowers in their homes during the pandemic, FHFA is extending the enterprises’ foreclosure and eviction moratoriums through the end of 2020,” said FHFA Director Mark Calabria. “This protects more than 28 million homeowners with an enterprise-backed mortgage.”
The current moratoriums were set to expire on Monday. This is the third time FHFA has extended the moratoriums amidst the ongoing pandemic.
FHFA said that it estimated that Fannie and Freddie would be hit by additional expenses of $1.1 billion to $1.7 billion due to the existing moratorium and its extension. The GSEs had intended to implement an “Adverse Market Refinance Fee” starting Sept. 1 to help defray the additional costs, but the fee was delayed to Dec. 1 after universal condemnation from industry groups and lawmakers.
