As part of President Joe Biden’s commitment to provide immediate relief for American families who fell behind on mortgage payments and rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a coordinated extension and expansion of forbearance and foreclosure relief programs on February 16, 2021.
Although these programs were scheduled to end in March, the mortgage payment forbearance enrollment window and foreclosure moratorium for homeowners have been extended until June 30, 2021. In addition, borrowers who entered forbearance on or prior to June 30, 2020, may be given up to six months of additional mortgage payment forbearance – in increments of three months.
Keep in mind, when the term of forbearance is complete, lenders must work with borrowers to figure out if they can resume making regular payments and, therefore, either provide a cost-effective repayment plan or defer any missed payments to the end of the loan through a term extension. If the borrower cannot resume making regular payments, special relief measures (e.g., term extensions, mortgage recovery advance, etc.) could be available.
If you are working through a Chapter 13 repayment plan and you are interested in obtaining mortgage forbearance for your home, you must notify all parties involved – such as the trustee, the loan services, and your bankruptcy attorney – in your bankruptcy case.
However, the bankruptcy code does not have any guidelines in place that specifically addresses a global pandemic. While reporting your request for mortgage forbearance to parties involved in your bankruptcy case is based on local regulations of the district bankruptcy court, the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees has determined several ways mortgage lenders can provide forbearance information to such parties.
The following are a few basic ways to inform the parties involved in your Chapter 13 bankruptcy about your forbearance request:
On the other hand, if you have not filed for bankruptcy and you do not know how you can make up all the missed payments after forbearance ends, then Chapter 13 bankruptcy gives homeowners up to five years to catch up with missed payments and even restructure other debts.
If you are interested in filing for bankruptcy in Northridge, IL, contact Bach Law Offices, Inc. today at (847) 440-5998 to let us examine your financial situation. Get more than 40 years of combined legal experience on your side!
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