Snohomish County Mudslide Victims to Receive Mortgage Relief

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Freddie Mac announced today a full menu of mortgage relief policies for borrowers affected by disasters in the State of Washington, including homeowners whose homes in Snohomish County were damaged or destroyed by recent flooding and mudslides.

Freddie Mac's disaster relief policies enable servicers to help borrowers with homes in presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs are being made available.

Tracy Mooney, Senior Vice President of Single-Family Servicing at Freddie Mac said in a prepared statement, "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 up to 12 months of forbearance on their mortgage payments. We strongly encourage borrowers to contact their servicers, who are fully authorized to work with them on a case-by-case basis."
 
Freddie Mac Mortgage Relief Policy Highlights:

Freddie Mac disaster relief policies authorize mortgage servicers to help affected borrowers in presidentially declared Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs have been extended. A list of these areas can be found at https://www.fema.gov/disasters.

Freddie Mac mortgage relief options for affected borrowers in these areas include:

• Place borrowers on forbearance and suspend foreclosures for up to 12 months;
• Waiving assessments of late fees against borrowers with disaster-damaged homes;
• Not reporting forbearance triggered by the disaster to the nation's credit bureaus; and
• Suspending eviction lock-outs for up to 90 days.

Under a new Freddie Mac mortgage modification option, after the disaster forbearance ends, the servicer can add skipped payments to the outstanding loan balance and extend the mortgage term, while keeping the borrower's mortgage payment essentially the same.

Freddie Mac is also reminding servicers to consider Freddie Mac's standard relief policies, including forbearance or mortgage modifications, for borrowers who work in eligible disaster areas but live in unaffected areas.

Affected borrowers should immediately contact their mortgage servicer -- the company to which they send their monthly mortgage payment.