Legislator suggests investors rescue foreclosures

A letter from a member of Congress to the Federal Housing Finance Agency calls for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to install a major rental program that could produce revenue out of properties otherwise sitting vacant.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) is urging the two companies to convert their repossessed properties into rental units and pool them for sales to investors.

Fannie Mae repossessed 53,697 properties through foreclosure in the second quarter, roughly flat from the previous quarter. While that is down from more than 68,800 repossessions one year ago, Fannie said the total was artificially depressed due to extended delays in the foreclosure process.