CARES Act Housing Relief

The stimulus bill that President Trump signed into law last Friday contains protections for American home owners, tenants, multi housing owners and some for future home owners. 

Many of the articles I have read about the stimulus points to the bill trying to stave off a repeat of the massive housing crisis of 2008, where at the height of it all 2.23% of all housing had foreclosure filings in 2010. In 2019 foreclosures had hit a 15 year low at just .36% of all US housing units with foreclosure filings. 

Mortgage Loan Forbearance and Foreclosure Protection
 Current home owners with a government backed loan can request loan forbearance during this designated disaster period - Which began March 13th - A mortgage forbearance agreement is an agreement made between a mortgage lender and delinquent borrower in which the lender agrees not to exercise its legal right to foreclose on a mortgage and the borrower agrees to a mortgage plan that will, over a certain time period, bring the borrower current on his or her payments. Federally backed loans include: Federal Housing Authority ( FHA ), Department of Veterans (VA), Department of Agriculture (USDA) or purchased/securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The servicer cannot request any proof beyond the borrow’s attestation to a financial hardship caused by COVID-19. The servicer of any Federally backed loan also cannot initiate the foreclosure process for not less than a 60-day period beginning on March 18.

Protections for Multi-Family Property Owners
 the protections extended to single family home owners are also being extended to owners of multi-family properties. Unlike single family home owners, multi-family building owners will need to document the financial hardships they are facing and request a forbearance for up to 30 days. That can be extended for two additional 30 day periods. If a building owner is receiving a forbearance the bill has tenant protections built in. No tenant can be evicted for non payment of rent or have an eviction initiated, as well as, no late fees or charges can be assessed for late payment of rents. 


Increased Tenant Protections 
 Property owners who participate in any housing programs covered by various acts-  including the low-income housing tax credit program, National Housing Act, Homeless Assistance Act, National Affordable Housing Act, rural housing voucher program and others - for the next 120 days, may not initiate eviction proceedings to retake possession of a property for nonpayment of rent or charge late fees for late payment of rent. 


Credit Protections
 The Fair Credit and Reporting Act was amended by the stimulus, designed at not allowing tanking credit scores of millions of Americans suddenly finding themselves out of work due to the Corona Virus. If a borrower and a lender have come to an agreement of deferring payments, partial payments, forbearance, modifying a loan or using any other relief- and the consumer makes the agreed upon payments or is not required to make a payment, then the account reported to credit agencies must be reported as current. 

For More Information the actual bill is linked below

CARES ACT

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https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mortgage_forbearance_agreement.asp

https://www.inman.com/2020/03/28/housing-protections-in-the-stimulus-bill-explained/

https://www.inman.com/2020/01/16/foreclosure-filings-hit-15-year-low/