Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow borrowers facing hardships to defer up to six months of mortgage payments under newly enhanced payment deferral policies, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced today. The agency is taking this step following success with COVID-19-related payment deferrals that enabled borrowers to remain in their homes during the pandemic. The new policies will have a voluntary adoption date of July 1 and a mandatory adoption date of Oct. 1.
Payment deferral allows borrowers who are able to resolve a financial hardship to keep the same monthly mortgage payment by moving past-due amounts to the end of the loan as a non-interest bearing balance, due and payable at maturity, sale, refinance, or payoff. Borrowers facing financial hardship should contact their servicer to discuss whether this is an appropriate solution for their unique circumstances. Servicers may offer borrowers one of several solutions to resolve a delinquency, including the enhanced payment deferral, reinstatement, repayment plan, or loan modification, depending on their individual situations, FHFA said.
