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What to Do BEFORE the Foreclosure and Eviction Moratorium Ends on July 31


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In late June, just as the foreclosure and eviction moratoriums were set to expire, federal agencies announced a new round of extensions. The director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that the eviction moratorium would be extended through July 31, 2021.[1] The Federal Financing Housing Agency (FHFA) announced that foreclosure moratoriums on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac properties would also be extended through July 31 as well.

But that leaves homeowners and renters who are behind on their payments with less than a month to figure out what to do should the administration allow these moratoriums to expire at the end of July. And while over $45 billion has been provided in rental relief funds,[3] many of the state and county programs that dole out those funds have already run out of money.

“It’s a tough situation for everyone,” says Howard Dvorkin, chairman of Debt.com. “A large percentage of renters live in single-family homes, meaning the landlord only has one tenant in the property. If that tenant can’t pay rent, it often means the landlord may be behind as well. It’s putting everyone behind, and no one can say for certain what will happen when these protections eventually run out.”

With that in mind, Debt.com asked twelve housing experts what renters and homeowners can do to get ahead.

Table of contents:

Advice for homeowners worried about foreclosure

The most recent Household Pulse Survey by the U.S. Census revealed that over 6 million homeowners are not current on their mortgage payments. That’s an improvement from February when 10 million homeowners were behind, but it’s still a significant number of owners facing foreclosure. What’s more, nearly three million Americans say they have no confidence that they will be able to make next month’s mortgage payment.[6]

Currently, the foreclosure moratorium for FHA-insured homes is set to expire on July 31, 2021.[2] For homeowners who are behind or concerned they may fall behind, our experts have this advice:

Forbearance is still an option and can buy you time

Under the CARES Act, homeowners can request up to 180-days of forbearance, which reduces or completely pauses their monthly payments. Under the original order, homeowners could request an extension to receive forbearance for an additional 180 days.

The FHA has extended the deadline to request forbearance to September 30, 2021.[7] However, if you request forbearance between July 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, then the forbearance period can only last for six months (180 days); they have not extended the ability to request an additional 180 days of forbearance if you are still struggling.

Borrowers can request forbearance, affording them up to 180 days in 2021 to catch up financially. – Dr. Francesca Ortegren @listwithclever Click To Tweet

Ina Li agrees and points out that lenders are not in the business of working against homeowners because foreclosure isn’t good for them either. So, even homeowners that don’t qualify for forbearance under the CARES Act should still contact their lender if they’re in financial distress.

Forbearance rights are typically included with every mortgage,” she explains. “Homeowners in distressed situations should understand that most lenders prefer to work out payment plans or deferrals than entering costly and lengthy foreclosure processes. This is especially true for local community banks that own their mortgages and have more flexibility.”

Know your loan, know your lender

Federal relief protections, such as forbearance, only apply to specific types of mortgage products. This means it’s important to know what type of mortgage you have. As Li explained above, smaller loan servicers who are local often have more flexibility to help a homeowner than national servicers. So, you also need to know your servicer.

EXPERT: Colin Robertson, Founder, TheTruthAboutMortgage.com

 Colin Robertson, Founder, The Truth About Mortgage
First, take note of the type of mortgage you have, whether it’s an FHA loan, VA loan, or conforming loan backed by Fannie or Freddie. Then understand how loan servicers are approaching homeowners post-forbearance. None of these agencies expect borrowers to pay the missed amount in full, but they may still ask you if you can. If not, you’ll be offered a repayment plan if affordable, or payment deferral to the end of the loan term if you can’t manage to pay any extra.


You can refer to your loan agreement or your monthly mortgage statements to find all the information you need about your loan and lender. If you still aren’t sure or have questions about your loan, contact the customer service department for your loan servicer.

Understand your options post-forbearance

EXPERT: Nadia Evangelou, Research Economist National Association of Realtors

Nadia Evangelou, Research Economist, National Association of Realtors
“A reinstatement may also work for owners who had a temporary hardship but now they have the money to pay fully the amount that they owe. A repayment plan usually works for owners who missed a few payments, but they can afford to pay more than their monthly mortgage payment for the next months to catch up. A modification works for owners who want to keep their home, but they cannot afford the payment, by reducing their monthly mortgage payment to an affordable amount.”

Be patient and document everything

Adam Sherwin, a real estate litigation attorney encourages homeowners to be proactive. Contact your lender or loan servicer and ask them about the options outlined above. Make sure to explain your circumstances.

EXPERT: Adam Sherwin, Real Estate Litigation Attorney, Sherwin Law Firm

Adam Sherwin, Real Estate Litigation Attorney, Sherwin Law Firm
“This, unfortunately, can be a lengthy and frustrating process and may require the homeowner to make multiple phone calls and letters to the servicer. Homeowners, importantly, need to keep a record of everything they send and receive from their lender and create a timeline/log of each communication and what was discussed. If the homeowner does not have any success in getting the assistance they need, this paperwork will become vital if legal action later becomes necessary.”

Contact a HUD Foreclosure Avoidance Counselor

Ortegren recommends that distressed homeowners who don’t qualify for forbearance under the CARES Act should contact a HUD Foreclosure Avoidance Counselor free of cost.

“Depending on their situation, homeowners may qualify for reduced mortgage payments, loan modification, or refinancing to help them stay afloat,” she explains.

“There are also options to get out from under a mortgage. Most notably are short sales and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. A short sale consists of selling the home for less than it’s worth to sell quickly and giving the cash directly to the lender, who forgives the difference. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure means the homeowner transfers the deed to their lender in exchange for a release from the debt owed on the home.”

While these two options are not ideal, she says they are “typically less costly to the homeowner both financially and in terms of the negative impact on their credit.”

A HUD-certified housing counselor can help you understand all the options that may be available to you. And since counselors are local, they will also know of relief funds that may be available to help homeowners.

Consumerfinance.gov offers a helpful tool that allows you to find a housing counselor in your area by zip code: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/find-a-housing-counselor/

If nothing else works, it’s time to sell

Sell. If you were under-capitalized when you purchased the home, it’s time to sell and re-evaluate if you have what it takes to own a home. – Eric Drenckhahn @nononsenseLL Click To Tweet

Drenckhahn of NoNonsenseLandlord.com says this advice applies not only to homeowners but to property investors, too. If you are a landlord who could be facing foreclosure because your tenants can’t pay, then it may be time to get out.

“Real estate investors should have enough backup capital to weather any bad renters,” he says. “If they were undercapitalized, they need to sell.”

What government relief efforts are missing

The Biden administration and federal agencies have not ruled out the possibility of additional extensions or a new relief package. So, there may be more relief on the way or the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums could be extended further. But will those relief efforts be enough to get homeowners and renters back on track?

We asked our experts what the federal government could be doing differently in this next round of stimulus when it comes to housing. Most of our experts agree that there needs to be a more comprehensive plan that addresses all the challenges that this situation has created.

Efforts need to be coordinated

The hodgepodge approach that the Fed, states and local jurisdictions have implemented while attempting to be helpful has made it difficult to navigate for everyone. – Aaron Norris, @propertyradar Click To Tweet

Norris says that there needs to be less politics and a more holistic approach, which would benefit everyone involved.

“A holistic solution that assists lenders, landlords, and tenants will go a long way to creating simplified messaging to get people to act,” Norris explains.

Moratoriums aren’t enough

Governments need to recognize that an eviction moratorium by itself just creates more stress in the system. – David Howard, National Rental Council @nrhcouncil Click To Tweet

Howard explains that the current relief system is delaying the crisis and complicating it, instead of solving it.

“Back rent continues to accumulate for renters, while landlords are left without any means of covering the inescapable costs of ownership—taxes, assessments, repairs, mortgages, and other loans. At some point, property owners realize they simply can’t afford to be in the rental housing business, and they are forced to sell, which further contributes to the housing supply problem we’re all experiencing.”

Howard says that the National Rental Home Council, “has been advocating for sensible rental assistance to be included in government stimulus from the beginning of the COVID crisis.”

“Some states and localities are starting to offer assistance, but it’s not nearly enough,” Howard explains. “Governments need to provide direct rental assistance for renters and property owners struggling with COVID-related economic hardship.”

Get the money where it’s needed most

Some experts believe that part of the issue is that government relief funds aren’t being used in the most strategic way. People who don’t really need help are receiving stimulus checks while unemployment insurance for those in the most trouble has been cut.

EXPERT: Clayton Jarvis, Mortgage Professional America

Clayton Jarvis, Senior Writer & Editor, Mortgage Professional America
“Put idiotic politics aside and get more financial assistance to the people who need it. No one was talking about mass evictions when people were still getting expanded UI.”

Address the underlying issue of housing affordability

As the housing affordability problem exacerbates and the wealth gap widens in the country, the governments need to address the roadblocks between aspiring homeowners and their American dreams. – Ina Li, @rex_change Click To Tweet

“The current industry practice in place stifles the competitiveness of the market and fundamentally hurts consumers whether they are landlords, home sellers, or renters who aspire to buy homes,” Li explains. “The most urgent issue remains rooted in malpractice by ill-incentivized real estate agents and associations, including discrimination and charging unnecessarily high fees through informational arbitrage.”

Let businesses open so Americans can get back to work

“Shutting down businesses hurts families, landlords, and lenders,” says Dustin Heiner of MasterPassiveIncome.com. “It hurts everyone, and every family is worse for doing so.”

Eric Drenckhahn of NoNonsenseLandlord.com agrees, “Let businesses open up so people can work.”

Are we heading for another housing crash?

Between new coronavirus variants and slow vaccine rollouts, no one can say how long it will take for businesses to open fully. As a result, the foreclosure and eviction moratoriums may be extended even further.

“News is already emerging about an increase in foreclosures,” explains Ina Li of Rex Real Estate. “It’s important to know that moratoriums stopped foreclosures that should have happened in March 2020. The first “wave” will be foreclosures that had nothing to do with COVID beyond the fact that it postponed them.”

Still, will this wave of foreclosures lead to a housing market crash like what we saw in the Great Recession?

Most experts say no.

EXPERT: Marco Santarelli, Norada Real Estate

Marco Santarelli, Investor, Author & Founder, Norada Real Estate
“There will be no housing market ‘crash’ following this moratorium or for the foreseeable future. The simple reason is that there is a lot of equity in properties all around the country, and we have a massive shortage of housing. These two dynamics are much different than what we saw back in 2007.”

Homes are in high demand

“During the great recession, home prices collapsed while housing supply reached record highs,” explains Nadia Evangelou from the National Association of Realtors. “In 2020, it was taking nearly ten months for all the current homes for sale on the market to sell. In contrast today, it would only take two and a half months to exhaust the current inventory.”

That demand means that foreclosed homes would be snapped up quickly by new buyers. That’s a very different situation from 2008 to 2010 when buyers were in short supply.

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A difference in equity

Before the 2008 housing crash, homeowners had borrowed heavily against equity. Many people had second mortgages and some even had third and fourth mortgages. This meant that when home values declined, many homeowners were upside down on their mortgages. They owed more than their home was worth.

The situation now is much different. While plenty of owners borrow against home equity, there are limits on that borrowing now. Home values are also showing no signs of falling.

“Homeowners have currently built up a large amount in home equity. Home prices are rising in each metro area,” explains Nadia Evangelou from the National Association of Realtors, “while two in three areas had double-digit price gains compared to a year earlier in the third quarter of 2020. This means that owners’ home equity is rising as well.”

That’s not to say that there’s no risk of a crash. Some experts like Dustin Heiner of Master Passive Income feel that a market correction is likely once foreclosures start.

As Colin Robertson of TheTruthAboutMortgage.com explains, “It does depend on how long the crisis lasts and if the bulk of troubled homeowners are able to regain employment.”

So, for homeowners thinking about borrowing against their equity, remember to be conservative, weigh your options carefully and talk to a range of professionals before you cash in on the equity you have in your home.


Sources:


[1] https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s0624-eviction-moratorium.html
[2] https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/FHFA-Extends-COVID-19-Foreclosure-and-REO-Eviction-Moratoriums.aspx
[3] https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/Main/documents/Factsheet_Housing_Provisions_American_Rescue_Plan_Act-2021.pdf
[4] https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/hhp/hhp32.html
[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063502/average-monthly-apartment-rent-usa/
[6] https://www.wboy.com/top-stories/biden-administration-announces-foreclosure-moratorium-and-mortgage-forbearance-deadline-extension
[7] https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_21_108#:~:text=Extended%20COVID%2D19%20Forbearance%20Request%20Timeframes&text=Homeowners%20who%20have%20not%20previously,2021%2C%20is%20for%20six%20months.

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