Mortgage Help Is Here- Single Family Homes

For Single Family property owners, many mortgage companies are working to help out their clients with different options for making their mortgage payments.  It is our recommendation to contact your mortgage company directly to discuss your situation with them.  We have also included some resources below to assist you in your conversations.

Note: With all the recent scams happening in today's world, it is especially important to be careful with any personal information you provide to websites and/or with human interactions.  Ensure that the contact information you have been provided comes from your mortgage statement or another reputable source that you trust. 

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the federal agencies are offering forbearance on mortgages they back.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and USDA Rural Housing are requiring lenders to approve six months forbearance for any borrower whose income has been adversely affected by COVID-19 and another six months forbearance is available but lender must approve for FHA borrowers. Lenders are to waive all late charges, fees, and penalties during the forbearance period.

Individuals must contact their servicers to request this forbearance, which freezes payments during the specified time period. There are no fees during and after the forbearance period, and requests can be made to have the missed payments extended onto your payment term.  Forbearance can be applied to mortgages on single family properties that are owner-occupied, second home, and investor properties.

After the forbearance period, the GSEs will modify the loan so that you can afford your payments. You must bring missed escrow payments up to date within 5 years, but are eligible for an “extend mod” which adds the missed payments onto the end of your loan term. If you cannot make the pre-forbearance payments there are a number of other modifications that can be made. Fannie Mae posted a document(link is external) that outlines its modification options. View additional information(link is external) from Fannie Mae about the extend mod.

Some private banks are offering forbearance on loans that they hold which are not federally backed. Individuals should contact them directly to learn more about their programs. The CFPB has organized a primer(link is external) and video(link is external) on what consumers should look for when exploring forbearance or other relief options.

Below is a link to a one page Q&A to help guide you in the process of contacting your mortgage company if your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mace

https://www.fhfa.gov/Homeownersbuyer/MortgageAssistance/Documents/FAQs-FannieMae-FreddieMac-Assistance-Options-for-Families-Impacted-by-COVID-19.pdf

If your loan is not owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, there are likely still financial assistance options for you.  We recommend that you contact your mortgage company as soon as you are able to discuss your options directly with them.  Understand that guidelines and programs are constantly changing, so even if there are not acceptable options for you today, there may be more options in the near future.