☰

Empresas y finanzas

Fannie strikes deal to modify mortgages: report


    (Reuters) - Fannie Mae reached an agreement to work with one of its former critics, Neighborhood Assistance Corp of America, to prevent foreclosures by reworking home mortgages to make them easier to afford, the Wall Street Journal said.

    The agreement is one of several measures the government-backed mortgage company and its main rival, Freddie Mac , are working on to avoid a further jump in foreclosures, the paper said.

    The agreement with Fannie has not been announced, the paper said, but added that it was confirmed by the company and by Bruce Marks, chief executive of the NACA, a Boston non-profit group.

    Fannie Mae could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

    Marks has branded Fannie a "major roadblock" to foreclosure-prevention efforts and led a protest outside Fannie's Washington headquarters in late October, blocking the entrance until he was allowed in to meet with the company's CEO, Herbert Allison, according to the paper.

    NACA is negotiating a similar cooperation agreement with Freddie Mac, Marks said told the paper.

    Fannie and Freddie both need to consult with their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, before proceeding with the cooperation, according to the Journal.

    NACA, which acts as an intermediary between borrowers and lenders, already works with Bank of America Corp , Wells Fargo & Co and several other large lenders in reworking troubled mortgages, the paper said.

    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, under guidance from their regulator, have recently stepped up efforts to modify, or permanently change, mortgage contracts to easier terms as a way to halt record foreclosures that have put the housing market and the economy in a downward spiral.

    (Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Kim Coghill)