16,000 Homeowners Get Early Christmas Present From Freddie and Fannie

In an attempt to stop the flow of foreclosures that is ravaging the companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have decided to put a temporary hold on new foreclosures and evictions. This hold will last till early 2009 and is meant to give homeowners the chance to work out loan modifications, hopefully allowing them to stay in their homes. Between the two companies this move is expected to affect around 16,000 homeowners facing foreclosure, according to the Wall Street Journal. So it seems that these 16,000 homeowners are getting a nice little Christmas present from Freddie and Fannie, as well as from taxpayers I presume.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this idea works. I was skeptical at best when the foreclosure moratorium was discussed during the presidential debates, and I still don’t think this will work as well as they are hoping. Nevertheless, this shall give us an opportunity to test the program on a smaller scale, which it could open up the door for similar action by other lenders if it works.

My problem with this strategy: I predict that ultimately the homeowners will still be foreclosed on, but they will enjoy some free time in their homes. If the homeowner doesn’t stay in the home, or somehow sell it, then the delay will just put the lender in even worse shape than before. Because in the case of Freddie and Fannie this equates to taxpayers taking on the burden, I’m not too fond of the idea. It will work out better if the companies are selective about who qualifies for a foreclosure delay, but if they offer it to all owner occupants it is doomed to failure. The problem is most people are in foreclosure for a serious reason: Some people lost their jobs, some can’t afford the payment (with or without loan modification) and some people are choosing to enter into foreclosure because they are so far underwater on the house. The last reason is becoming a huge problem, and really should be the one most feared in this scenario. At least I can feel bad for the people who lost their jobs, or possibly even the poor sucker who got an interest only ARM sold to them that they couldn’t afford, but it is hard to feel bad for someone who can afford the payment and just wants out of their contract. Why on earth would we want to give these people another month, two or three of free housing? If they aren’t going to pay their mortgage and just plan on working the system, why should taxpayers be stuck with the bill? We already have to deal with the fact that we are going to lose money on the foreclosure, so why add anything else?

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I have my doubts, and I hope that I’m proven wrong and that this plan saves taxpayers a bunch of money. But unless we are able to create a method to accurately identify the homeowners who want help and can be helped, this is doomed to fail.