A holiday break: Lenders suspend foreclosure evictions

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they will temporarily halt all bank repossessions and evictions beginning in mid-December until January 2, 2013.

The temporary foreclosure suspension goes into effect beginning December 17. The moratorium will not affect the filing notices of default or the scheduling of auction sales.

“The holidays are a chance to be with loved ones and we want to relieve some stress at this time of year,” said Terry Edwards, executive vice president of credit portfolio management, Fannie Mae.

Bank of America also recently announced that it is halting foreclosure evictions for the holidays for loans it owns and for those it services for investors. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citibank have yet to release a statement on whether they’ll follow suit, although they have done so in the past for the holidays.