Call your mortgage servicer right away. Your servicer is the company or bank you send your mortgage payments to every month. Do not stop making payments without talking to them.
You also have a mortgage lender. This may be different than your servicer. The lender owns your mortgage. If you don’t know who your lender is, ask your servicer. What rules apply to you depends on your lender.
Federally-Backed Mortgages
For many loans, servicers have to offer you forbearance options if you ask for help because your income has been affected by the COVID-19 emergency. Forbearance means your payments are not due until the end of the forbearance period. A forbearance can be up to 12 months. You still owe all your mortgage payments for that time, but they can’t charge you late fees or report missed payments to the credit bureaus.
At the end of the forbearance period, you need to work with your servicer to start making payments again, and to deal with the payments you missed in the forbearance. There may be multiple options to catch up on your payments. Talk to your servicer before your forbearance ends.
If you ask for help, servicers have to offer forbearance options for the following types of federally-backed loans:
- FHA
- HUD Reverse Mortgage
- VA
- USDA
- Fannie Mae
- Freddie Mac
If you have one of these loans and need a forbearance, contact your servicer and tell them that you are having financial hardship due to COVID-19. They should give you a forbearance without asking for documentation that proves your hardship.
When you can ask for a forbearance and how long a forbearance lasts depends on the kind of loan you have:
FHA/VA/USDA and HUD reverse mortgage loans:
- You can ask for a COVID forbearance through September 30, 2021.
- If you had your forbearance on or before June 30, 2020, you are eligible for up to 18 months of forbearance.
- If you got your forbearance between June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020, you are eligible for up to 15 months of forbearance.
- If you got your forbearance between September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2021, you are eligible for up to 12 months of forbearance.
- If you apply for and get a forbearance between July 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, you are eligible for 6 months of forbearance.
Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans:
- Currently, there is no deadline to ask for a COVID forbearance. BUT apply as soon as you have money issues. Don't wait until you miss a payment!
- If you had your forbearance on or before February 28, 2021, you are eligible for up to 18 months of forbearance.
- If you got your forbearance on or after March 1, 2021, you are probably eligible for up to 12 months of forbearance. This might change, check back for updates.
Private Bank Mortgages
If your mortgage is not a federally-backed mortgage like the ones listed above, it is owned by a private bank. If that is the case, your servicer does not have to offer forbearance options. But your servicer may voluntarily offer a forbearance or have other COVID-related options. Contact your servicer right away and ask for information and options directly from them.
