MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) today announced it is ordering servicers to suspend all foreclosure sales on properties with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages in the federally declared disaster areas caused by Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana. Freddie Mac is one of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages.

'Freddie Mac is taking this step because the extensive damage Hurricane Ike caused has made it difficult for our servicers to get the information they need to make case-by-case decisions about forbearance or other workout options,' said Ingrid Beckles, vice president of servicing and asset management at Freddie Mac.

The suspension will extend from October 8 to December 31, 2008 and include mortgages that were in default prior to Hurricane Ike.

Servicers will be required after the suspension ends to consider individual circumstances in determining whether additional foreclosure relief should be extended or whether to proceed with foreclosure.

Today's announcement only applies to properties with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages in Texas or Louisiana counties, municipalities or parishes that were declared federal disaster areas and where federal aid in the form of individual assistance is available.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac raises capital on Wall Street and throughout the world's capital markets to finance mortgages for families across America. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

SOURCE Freddie Mac