Eviction and foreclosure moratorium extended on federally-backed mortgages

Temporary relief is in sight for homeowners with single-family federally backed mortgages. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced another extension of their foreclosure moratorium, this time through January 31, 2021.

This marks the fourth time government agencies have announced an extension to California’s foreclosure moratorium. The previous extension ended on December 31, 2020.

The moratorium specifically applies to those with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It also extends the eviction moratorium for residents of real estate owned (REO) properties.

The FHFA estimates 28 million homeowner mortgages are backed by government sponsored entities.

The moratorium continues to direct mortgage servicers to:

halt all new foreclosure actions and suspend all foreclosure actions currently in process for FHA-insured single-family properties; and
cease all evictions of persons from FHA-insured single-family properties.

Homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages protected from foreclosure should make their mortgage payments if they are able to do so or seek mortgage payment forbearance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act from their mortgage servicer.

Under the CARES Act, the FHA requires mortgage servicers to:

offer borrowers with FHA-insured mortgages delayed payment forbearance when the borrower requests it, with the option to extend the forbearance for up to a year;
assess borrowers who receive COVID-10 forbearance for the special COVID-19 National Emergency Standalone Partial Claim; and
assess borrowers who are not eligible for the National Emergency Standalone Partial Claim for one of FHA’s COVID-19 expanded home retention solutions.

The FHFA announced they will continue to monitor economic conditions and will extend the deadline again as needed. You can read their full release here.