My Real Estate Blog

If your mortgage is held by Freddie Mac, then you are one of over 12 million single-family homeowners, or part of approximately 23% of the mortgage market.

In order to better understand the Freddie Mac stance on foreclosures, here are a few facts.

1)  Fewer than 500,000 Freddie Mac homeowners are currently in serious default on their mortgage. That is just 10% of the delinquencies in the market as a whole.

2)  While 114,000 foreclosures were processed by Freddie Mac in the first 9 months of 2010, another 211,000 delinquent Freddie Mac borrowers actually avoided foreclosure. This was thanks in part to Freddie Mac's policy of extending to its servicers the ability to stop or suspend a foreclosure in exchange for an alternative plan. These alternatives include such things as short sales, deed-in-lieu, and even a loan workout.

According to Anthony Renzi, executive vice president at Freddie Mac, "Borrowers are not being rushed through the foreclosure process. It takes 449 days, on average, to complete a foreclosure on a Freddie Mac loan. In these foreclosures, borrowers had been behind on their payments for an average of more than a year."

It isn't just homeowners who wish to avoid foreclosure. Lengthy foreclosure delays cost Freddie $10,000 to $15,000 a year per mortgage. In addition, according to Renzi, "We pay the loan servicing industry about $5 billion per year to service our loans. We offer additional financial incentives for servicers to avoid foreclosure."

Perhaps above all, Freddie Mac holds its servicers to the credo to "treat borrowers fairly, with respect, and in full compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and Freddie Mac policies."