Banks are Playing Santa by Halting Foreclosures for the Holiday

Many of the larger mortgage lenders in the country are showing a sense of compassion again this year as they have announced that they will not evict any families from their homes during the holiday season. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have also joined in by announcing that they will freeze any foreclosure evictions between December 20 and January 3.

Evictions occur once the foreclosure process has completed. People can typically stay in their home until this phase of the foreclosure process. When someone is evicted from their home, the bank has either taken possession of it or it was sold at a foreclosure auction. If the homeowner does not leave the home, they will be evicted at this time.

Anthony Renzi, a high-ranking executive at Freddie Mac, said the mortgage giant will not evict people if they are in the home during the Christmas season in order to give the families a “greater measure of certainty.” Rick Simon, a spokesperson for Bank of America, said the “robo-signing” scandal in recent months has made this year’s thought of freezing evictions during the holiday season a little awkward, but they still plan on observing that policy this year. For JPMorgan Chase, a spokesperson said it will be weeks before the lender begins actively pursuing evictions again.

This holiday moratorium on evictions could affect tens of thousands of defaulted mortgages across the United States. There are about 100,000 new bank repossessions on homes each month, there will be many happy families who will appreciate having a home to live in through the New Year. On the downside, defaulted mortgage borrowers should be prepared for the worse once the first week of 2011 arrives. Some banks may step up their eviction efforts which could result in a couple hundred thousand homeowners being kicked out onto the streets during the first part of the new year.