Citi Suspends Foreclosures

Santa has come a little early to 4,000 people with mortgages this year. Citigroup has decided to suspend foreclosures and evictions for 30 days, beginning Friday and ending Jan. 17. As Sanjiv Das, the head of the company's mortgage division, put it, "We want our borrowers to have a much less stressful time, to spend their time with their families during the holidays as opposed to worrying about their homes." The temporary kibosh only applies to borrowers whose loans are owned by Citigroup and does not include homeowners who make payments to Citigroup even though their loans are owned by others. The company predicts that the move will help 2,000 scheduled foreclosure sales, and 2,000 homes due to receive foreclosure notices. In the meantime, Das says, Citigroup is working on "long-term fundamental alternatives" to foreclosure.