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Fannie Mae Launches Mortgage Help Website

Mortgage servicer Fannie Mae has launched a new site, www.knowyouroptions.com, in an effort to educate distressed homeowners and help them get mortgage assistance. The site is one of many projects launched by the government-run servicer this year to minimize its losses, which has so far reached $2.3 trillion in loans and securities on mortgages it has backed prior to the housing crisis.

Part of the site’s goal is to get borrowers to approach their lenders earlier. Major banks, often accused of inefficiency in the foreclosure prevention department, have reported that many troubled borrowers are just as difficult to reach before the situation gets too bad. Fannie Mae senior vice president for mortgage servicing Jeff Hayward says the website is meant as much to educate as to drive people to action. Borrowers, he said, just have to take one of two steps: talk to a housing counselor or contact the lenders themselves.

He added that the site presents information in a user-friendly way so as not to intimidate stressed borrowers. Knowyouroptions.com will include a virtual assistant who guides users along various foreclosure alternatives, such as loan modification, refinancing, short sales, and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. There will also be real-life testimonials from homeowners who have successfully avoided foreclosure through government programs.

Other features include a homeowners’ poll and a lookup tool that allows users to find contact information for their lenders’ loan workout departments. The site will be available in English and Spanish. Fannie Mae plans to support the project with new help centers starting in the fall, particularly in hard-hit markets, according to spokesman Brian Faith. Two such centers have already been set up in Chicago and Florida.