The Bank called this morning. I am visibly shaken. I didn’t except it so soon. My mortgage is due on the 28 of each month. I am late by 6 days. We had a hurricane alert; we have an ongoing pandemic and my hours at work got cut by 50% at the beginning of the Fiscal year, July 1, 2020.
I explained all this to the bank representative. She replied, “Your payment is 6 days late.“
I sort of lost it with her and told her my opinion of the current situation. Covid19 is not my fault, I have been paying the mortgage on time for the last ten years, does she have no feeling, blah, blah, etc.
Then I realize this is her job, She’s lucky to have one. I tell her I will try to do my best and figure it out. I tell her, perhaps I can pay half this week. I tell her to have some patience and I hope my credit score will not be affected. She says, “It won’t be reported unless you don’t pay within 30 days.” She sounds like a rebot and the banks want their money now even though It has only been 3 days since the relief for homeowners and renters ended
But I found some information. Here is the website and what they say about mortgage relief.
If your ability to pay your mortgage is impacted, and your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (use the "loan lookup" tools: https://www.knowyouroptions.com/loanlookup for Fannie Mae or https://ww3.freddiemac.com/loanlookup/ for Freddie Mac to find out), you may be eligible to delay making your monthly mortgage payments for a temporary period, during which:
For those who don’t have a federally backed loan there is still some recourse:
Contact your mortgage servicer (the company where you send your monthly payments) as soon as possible to let them know about your current circumstances. The telephone number and mailing address of your mortgage servicer should be listed on your monthly mortgage statement.
If you have trouble catching up at the end of this temporary relief period, additional assistance may be available. You are not required to repay missed payments all at once.
- If you are unable to repay your missed payments all at once and can afford to pay a higher monthly mortgage payment for a period of time, you may be eligible for a repayment plan which allows you to repay past due amounts over a period of time.
- If you can afford to resume your monthly mortgage payment you may be eligible for a payment deferral which puts your missed mortgage payments and puts them into a payment due at the sale, or refinancing of the home, or the end of the loan.
- If you have a sustained reduction in income and are unable to afford your regular monthly mortgage payment, you may be eligible for a loan modification which changes the terms of your loan to enable an affordable payment.
Servicers will reach out to you about 30 days before your forbearance plan is scheduled to end to determine which assistance program is best for you at that time. Work with your servicer to determine which option you are eligible for.
I reached out to the loan department at my institution and talked with someone I had worked with before. She encouraged me to write a letter of hardship to the bank listing my sustained reduction in income and lack of ability to pay. I would have to ask for an extension if I can’t pay next month. Because I don’t have a Fannie or Freddie May loan I may have to pay late fees but they can be tacked on at the end of my mortgage like a mini-balloon payment. At least I won’t go into foreclosure yet. Forbearance is another way
It is incredible that we can loose everything we hold dear in a blink of a covid minute. It makes me physically ill to think how many Americans are lost and how many more are suffering worse than me and my family.
I plan on surviving and what keeps me going is my faith in humanity. Not everyone is corrupt, greedy, unethical, racist, fascist, criminal or orange. We will rid ourselves of this abomination that has spewed hate, chaos and covid 19 across our nation, We will perservere and preserve our democratic union on or before November 3 when EVERYONE VOTES!
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Now if we could just get everyone to ware a mask, wash hands, social distance, increase adequate testing like they do it in the WH, fund contact tracing and not rush to reopen schools, or sports, we just might reduce the number of deaths and cases. It’s become abundantly clear, there is no forbearance for the virus, no relief and no help. It’s on us, individually, on that you can bank on.
Stay safe everyone, aloha.