Fannie Mae announced Thursday that it will let troubled homeowners rent their homes instead of losing them through foreclosure and eviction. The new program is aimed at providing greater home security to distressed borrowers who can’t afford their mortgage payments and can’t get a loan modification, but would be able to afford the rent.

The program is structured so that borrowers transfer their property deed to Fannie, a process known as a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. A deed-in-lieu will ding a borrower’s credit score, but it isn’t as damaging as a straight-up foreclosure, even though the end result is the same: Fannie gets back the property. Fannie completed around 1,200 deed-in-lieu transactions during the first half of the year.

In the new “Deed for Lease” program, borrowers must qualify for a deed-in-lieu under Fannie’s current guidelines, and if they can demonstrate that they have enough income to pay a market rent, they’ll be able to sign a lease for up to 12 months.  Here’s a few question and answers about the program:

How do I know if Fannie owns or guar