Disaster Recovery Help for Homeowners
Fannie Mae stands ready to assist homeowners and communities affected by natural disasters. Our mortgage relief options and Disaster Response Network can help ease the financial and emotional burdens of recovery.
Disaster Relief Options
If you’ve been affected by a disaster, and expect to have mortgage, housing, or employment related challenges, here are steps you can take:
1. Contact your mortgage servicer
It’s imperative that you contact your mortgage servicer (the company listed on your monthly statement) as soon as possible to learn about mortgage relief options. If you don’t have access to your mortgage records, check our Contact Your Mortgage Company list or search online for contact information.
If Fannie Mae owns your loan, your mortgage servicer or our Disaster Response Network (see #2 below) can help with options including:
- A forbearance to temporarily suspend or reduce payments for up to 12 months
- No late charges or reporting of missed payments to credit bureaus while payments are suspended
- A loan modification to avoid a burdensome repayment or higher monthly payments after a forbearance
- Possible suspension of legal proceedings (i.e., foreclosure)
2. Request help from our Disaster Response Network
Disaster recovery can be complex and stressful. Our Disaster Response Network (operated by Project Porchlight) offers free, personalized help for homeowners with a Fannie Mae-owned loan whose property is in a FEMA-declared zone. A HUD-approved housing counselor will provide assistance by phone including:
- A comprehensive post-disaster assessment and action plan
- Assistance in filing FEMA, insurance, and Small Business Administration (SBA) claims
- Help working with your mortgage servicer on payment relief options
- Access to Project Porchlight Online, a website providing helpful tools and resources
- Ongoing counselor check-ins to help ensure a successful recovery
To see if Fannie Mae owns your loan, and to access contact information for the Disaster Response Network, visit our Loan Lookup tool. See the Get Started section below for details.
3. Check for local homeowner events
Local relief efforts for larger scale disasters may include events where you can talk with housing counselors and mortgage companies in person to get the help you need. Check our Events page for events in your area and details on what you may need to take with you.
Get Started
To request mortgage relief for a Fannie Mae loan or help from our Disaster Response Network, you’ll need to first confirm that we own your loan. You can do that by checking our Loan Lookup Tool or calling 1-800-2FANNIE (1-800-232-6643).
If the Loan Lookup Tool confirms that you have a Fannie Mae loan, your results page will include contact information for your mortgage servicer and disaster-recovery assistance.
For information about FEMA-declared disaster zones, visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency website at www.disasterassistance.gov.
Avoid Scams
Beware! Scam artists will offer fraudulent assistance and services to those affected by a disaster. Here are some ways you can protect yourself:
- Confirm that you are working with a legitimate company by using Google or another tool/resource to verify its identity.
- Note inconsistencies in offers of help you may receive, like grammar mistakes, typos, and names of organizations that are slightly off. These are often a sign of fraud.
- Never feel pressured to “take immediate action.” Do your research and check the facts before signing any agreement or sending any money.
- • Never share your financial information unless you have verified the legitimacy of the recipient. And remember, mortgage help is FREE.
For more tips on how to avoid scams, visit here.
Additional Resources
- Disaster Relief Resources Flyer (PDF)
- Freddie Mac: freddiemac.com
- Homeowners HOPE™ Hotline: 1-888-995-HOPE
- HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development): www.hud.gov
- FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency): www.disasterassistance.gov
- American Red Cross: 1-800-733-2767
Helping Communities
Our Commitment to Others
Fannie Mae supports national and local relief efforts following natural disasters through financial contributions (and often matching our employee’s contributions) as well as contributing to relief programs managed by charitable relief organizations. For more information, visit www.fanniemae.com.