Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Again Extend Foreclosure Freeze

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) once again suspended foreclosure sales of occupied properties, this time through March 6, to give loan servicers more time to help financially strapped borrowers avoid foreclosures.

The new moves are the latest steps to aid the housing market by the mortgage giants since they were seized by the government in September. They follow commitments earlier Friday from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) for weeks-long moratoriums on foreclosures.

Freddie Mac said its extension was for single-family and two- to four-unit properties, and doesn't apply to vacant properties. Fannie Mae said the extension was offered as the government works on a financial stability plan slated to include billions of dollars aimed at keeping people in their homes.

In November, both companies first suspended foreclosure sales until the end of the year and announced extensions of the program twice in January, with the latest suspension planned through Feb. 28.

Lawmakers in a congressional hearing Wednesday asked the executives of several of the nation's largest banks to institute a moratorium on foreclosures until the details of a revamped government bailout effort are announced.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to outline his plan to stem foreclosures next week.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; [e-mail]