By Lisa Scontras
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks are taking steps to help people who have been impacted by the coronavirus.
For those facing job loss, lost income, illness or other COVID-19 issues that affect their ability to make monthly payments, a call to the loan servicer (the company name and phone number should be listed on your monthly mortgage statement) to discuss options is recommended. As more people are affected, it’s important to make this call as soon as possible.
“With so many local people unemployed here, we expect a huge increase in people not being able to make their mortgage payments,” said Roland Shar, branch manager at Paramount Residential Mortgage Group. “There are talks about forbearance programs, which allow mortgagors to defer their payments for months; however, it is a little tricky in that while you may be given a pause in making payments, interest is still being charged and accruing. So, when things recover, borrowers will have a huge deficit to make up. My advice is to communicate with your lender and do that as soon as possible, as there may be a huge rush to do so in the next several weeks. Don’t wait.”
If your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the current provisions, if you’re eligible, include deferring monthly mortgage payments for a temporary period.