As DSNews.com previously reported, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Citigroup said last week that they were all suspending foreclosure actions during the holidays.

And as expected, other major lenders have followed suit, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Bank of America is halting all foreclosure sales and evictions from December 21, 2009 to January 3, 2010. The company explained that the suspension will apply to mortgages in Bank of America’s held for investment portfolio, as well as for investors that concede to allow BofA to proceed with the moratorium. The institution said it will also comply with other moratoriums from investors who have requested foreclosure holds for a different period of time.

JPMorgan Chase is also placing a freeze on foreclosures through January 3, 2010. When contacted by DSNews.com, though, a company representative said the bank was “not publicizing” the holiday season suspension.

Wells Fargo confirmed to DS News that it too will not evict customers or move forward with any foreclosure sales for customers who occupy their homes on loans owned by the bank, effective December 19, 2009 through January 3, 2010. The company said it also will follow investor guidelines regarding foreclosure suspensions for the rest of the mortgages it services.

“Foreclosure is always the last resort we use only after exhausting all other available options.” a Wells Fargo spokesperson added. “This includes regularly instituting individual moratoriums throughout the year where we think another option is reachable.”

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Citigroup is suspending foreclosure actions for about 4,000 borrowers scheduled to lose their home during the holiday season.

The New York-based bank announced Thursday that its CitiMortgage and CitiFinancial business units will halt all foreclosure sales on Citi-owned first mortgage accounts nationwide and cease evictions on REO properties already seized, effective December 18, 2009 through January 17, 2010.

Citi’s month-long foreclosure moratorium affects only those loans owned by the bank, approximately 20 percent of its $746 billion mortgage servicing and lending portfolio. The program does not apply to the other 80 percent that it services for investors.

The bank expects the national suspension will affect approximately 2,000 borrowers scheduled to have foreclosure sales and another 2,000 that were to receive foreclosure notifications in the next 30 days.

The foreclosure suspension is reminiscent of the moratoriums put in place by most lenders at about this same time last year, when the administration was laying the groundwork for its Making Home Affordable program. As many analysts warned, the moratoriums only served to delay the inevitable and foreclosure numbers soared once they were lifted, but Citi says it’s simply hoping to bring some holiday relief to its customers.

“We hope that with this suspension we can make the holidays a little less stressful for our customers who are going through a very difficult time,” said Sanjiv Das, president and CEO of CitiMortgage. “And we will continue to look for meaningful ways to assist our customers experiencing hardship.”

Citi says its multi-faceted Homeowner Assistance Program has helped approximately 715,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes since the housing crisis began in 2007.

The bank says it makes “strenuous attempts” to establish contact with distressed homeowners, and does not initiate or complete a foreclosure sale on any borrower eligible for assistance where Citi owns the mortgage, the borrower is seeking to stay in the home as their primary residence, and is “working in good faith” with Citi to work out affordable mortgage payments.

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