Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have extended a moratorium, launched on December 15, 2008, on foreclosure suspensions for another three weeks, so mortgage servicers will work on postponing any foreclosures or eviction proceedings until the 31st of this month.

The two mortgage giants have projected that homeowners would avoid bank repossession and eventually qualify for mortgage modifications. The companies don’t have an exact number of how many borrowers that they’ll assist.

The extension on the moratorium should give servicers more time to help at-risk homeowners enroll in the companies’ Streamlined Modifications Program.

The program is aiming to help borrowers who are 90 days or more late on their payments, who own and live in their primary residences, and who have not filed for bankruptcy to reduce mortgage payments to no more than 38% of their income.

This moratorium does not only apply to owners of single family homes, but also multiple family houses that are occupied with renters. It helps cut down the number of foreclosures and it will assist renters to remain in their residences. This makes sense because before if an owner went through foreclosure, their renters got evicted immediately, late on payments or not.

The new policy for renters set by Fannie Mae is the National REO Rental Policy, which allows renters to stay in their homes as long as they have reasonable leases and keep up with their payments.

The extended time period of 3 weeks will give Fannie and Freddie more time to fully enable the new REO rental policy and assure at-risk homeowners with the help that they need.

The more information that the companies explain to the troubled homeowners, the more likely foreclosures and evictions will be prevented.

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