Foreclosure and eviction proceedings are suspended from November 26, 2008 to January 9, 2009 to give the recently announced mortgage rescue plan time to work.  Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have directed their network of servicers not to implement foreclosure and eviction during the said period.

FreddieMac has instructed its servicers to inform the 6000 borrowers who have an auction sale or an eviction planned within the dates specified above. Fannie Mae is anticipating about 10,000 of its borrowers will be covered by the break. Borrowers scheduled for eviction between November 20 and 26 are not covered by the foreclosure and eviction suspension. In total, about 16,000 homeowners are covered by the moratorium.

"By delaying these foreclosure sales, the nation's servicers will have the opportunity to work with more borrowers who could qualify for a modification under the new [plan]," said Freddie Mac CEO David M. Moffett in a release.

The plan was announced to public on Nov. 11. To be eligible, homeowners must be 90 days or more late in their mortgage payments, owe at least 90% of their home's current value, live in the home on which the mortgage was taken and have not filed for bankruptcy.

The mortgage rate could be lowered to as little as 3% for five years. After that, it would increase by 1 percentage point a year until it hits either the market rate or the original interest rate, whichever is lower.

Also, the announcement "provides a new measure of certainty to many of these families during the holidays,"  Moffett said in a statement.