Fannie Mae has announced that it will deny new mortgage loans for seven years to some homeowners who walked away from their mortgages although they were able to pay or if they did not seek a workout in good faith with their lender. If a borrower had extenuating circumstances, he/she may be eligible for a new loan within 2 years.

The mortgage giant also plans to sue borrowers who strategically defaulted on their loans in order to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments.

The move comes as strategic defaults are becoming more common and lenders fear borrowers who "walk away" will greatly increase the industry's foreclosure-related losses, which already total in the hundreds of billions of dollars.