Freddie extends mortgage relief policies to borrowers affected by Illinois storms

Freddie Mac is making its mortgage relief policies available to homeowners whose homes were destroyed or damaged by recent tornadoes and other storms in Illinois, the company announced Wednesday.

“Freddie Mac is urgently reminding the nation's mortgage servicers about the full range of mortgage relief options they can provide to affected borrowers with mortgages we own or guarantee, including forbearance on mortgage payments for up to one year,” said Tracy Mooney, Freddie Mac’s senior vice president for single-family servicing and REO. “We strongly encourage borrowers to contact their servicers, who are fully authorized to work with them on a case-by-case basis.”

Freddie’s disaster relief policies are designed to help homeowners living in presidentially declared major disaster areas. The company’s mortgage relief options for borrowers in these areas include:

• Placing borrowers on forbearance and suspending foreclosures for up to 12 months;
• Waiving late fee assessments against borrowers with homes damaged in disasters; and
• Not reporting forbearance triggered by disasters to credit bureaus.

Freddie also has a new mortgage modification option that allows servicers to add skipped payments to the outstanding loan balance after disaster forbearance ends, extending the term of the mortgage while keeping the borrower’s payments about the same.

For more on Freddie Mac’s disaster relief policies, click here.