Foreclosure Evictions Freeze for the Holidays

Most of the major mortgage servicers have announced that they would temporarily halt eviction of homeowners in foreclosed homes for two weeks in time for Christmas. The practice has been observed in the industry for several years now.

Government-sponsored Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Freddie Mac and the Federal National Mortgage Association or Fannie Mae are set to freeze all their foreclosure evictions nationwide from December 20 to January 3 of the coming New Year. If a foreclosed property is currently occupied, foreclosure attorneys would formally suspend eviction to make sure the family would have a shelter where they could spend the holidays.

Eviction marks the completion of a foreclosure process. The foreclosed home would be sold through auction or be repossessed by a bank. When that happens, the property should be vacant or the occupying family would face eviction notices.

Private lenders who are into lending mortgages are also observing the traditional freezing of foreclosure accounts the coming holidays. The banks said the situation would be quite different this time, because they have already implemented moratoriums due to the recent ‘robo-signing’ anomaly that rocked the industry in September.

The moratorium was already a form of freezing foreclosure accounts and activities of lenders. It was implemented to give banks more time to assess and review their foreclosure practices. The lenders want to determine if they have really violated legal procedures when they processed foreclosures in the past, as what complainants claim. The banks also aim to unveil, correct, and even re-file any questionable document they would discover.

Bank of America said it would still observe the traditional holiday freezing policy. The bank noted that its program only covers loans that are within its investment portfolio and that are held by investors who in turn give Bank of America the delegated authority. The company reminded that it would continue foreclosing loans that are owned by investors who refuse to participate in the holiday freeze program.

For Chase Mortgage, the holiday freeze would be fully observed. Wells Fargo, for its part said its holiday freeze on foreclosures would be synchronized with those offered by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The bank said for other loans that it services, investor and state guidelines in different locations would be followed.

The news would serve as a relief for numerous households that are facing possible foreclosure.

For more news on the foreclosure housing market, visit ForeclosureConnections.com.