The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Freddie Mac announced Monday that the two agencies are implementing certain policies—including a foreclosure moratorium issued by HUD—to help homeowners in storm-ravished Midwestern areas, according to press releases issued by both organizations.

HUD Secretary Steve Preston said his agency will provide aid to families in distressed counties located in Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin. HUD's aid includes a mandatory 90-day foreclosure moratorium on FHA-insured homes that reside in areas severely impacted by a recent string of floods, storms and tornadoes.

“These storms, and the flooding they produced, are tearing people's lives apart and we must offer substantive relief to these families,” Preston said. “To speed this recovery, we're calling for a 'foreclosure time-out' to offer FHA-insured families a little breathing room as they confront the rebuilding process.”

HUD's aid to impacted homeowners also will include mortgage insurance for those who qualify, as well as insurance that will be available for home loans and rehabilitation purposes, and an offering of Section 108 loan guarantee assistance—a HUD offering that allows local and state governments to support federally-insured loans for housing rehabilitation, economic development and infrastructure repair.

Meanwhile, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac announced that the company is helping families in storm-stricken areas by encouraging servicers working with the GSE to waive assessments of penalties or late fees when dealing with borrowers impacted by the adverse weather. In addition, Freddie Mac is not reporting forbearance or delinquencies that result from inoperable credit bureaus and is suspending foreclosures and evictions for at least 12 months. Freddie says each case will be reviewed and assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Ingrid Beckles, vice president of servicing and asset management at Freddie Mac, said, “Freddie Mac and the nation's mortgage servicers will work together to advance available mortgage relief to homeowners affected by these devastating floods. We are instructing our servicers to work with borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages to receive forbearance on their mortgage payments for up to one year.”Kerri Panchuk

The following counties have been identified as “qualified” for some type of FHA assistance, including the foreclosure moratorium on FHA-insured loans:

Iowa: Adams, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Delaware, Fayette, Floyd, Hardin, Johnson, Linn, Marion, Page, Story, Tama and Union counties

Indiana: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clay, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Greene, Henry, Hamilton, Hancock, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Union, Vermillion, Vigo and Wayne

Wisconsin: Crawford, Columbia, Sauk, Milwaukee and Vernon