Friday, January 06, 2012

Art Blakey Jazz Messengers
Theme for Stacy


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OT . . .Freddie Mac offers a break to unemployed homeowners
Unemployed homeowners will be allowed to suspend or reduce mortgage payments for as long as a year under a new policy announced by mortgage finance firm Freddie Mac on Friday. The new rules take effect on Feb. 1.
Freddie Mac will give mortgage servicers the authority to provide six months of forbearance to unemployed borrowers without prior approval, and the agency can approve an additional six months of forbearance after that. Homeowners are still responsible for paying off their full mortgage plus interest after the forbearance period ends.

According to a Freddie Mac news release, unemployed borrowers can now avoid foreclosure by asking their lender to lower their payments for up to one year. The latest statistics suggest nearly 10 percent of delinquencies on Freddie Mac mortgages were tied to unemployment.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) called for the extension, in the hope it would keep more families in their homes. Freddie Mac previously allowed lenders to grant up to three months of forbearance with no payment, or six months at a reduced payment, without the firm's prior approval.

Longer forbearance times were restricted to events such as natural disasters, permanent disability or long-term medical emergencies, and still required prior approval.