Forbearance is NOT Forgiveness - Fairway New England

by Maria John Senior Mortgage Executive

We are sharing the Families First COVID Resource Toolkit with information and resources regarding relief for small business, those unemployed, and homeowners. We hope you find this useful.

For homeowners who fear being unable to pay their mortgage now or at some point in the near future, there is important information below explaining the various options that are and are not available. Please read on for more information.

If you find you cannot pay your mortgage, contact your loan servicer right away:

Forbearance-this allows you to suspend mortgage payments for a specific period of time, at which point you will need to begin paying your mortgage again, plus the amount you suspended. A forbearance is not a deferment and amounts owed cannot be skipped or added to the end of the loan. You still owe the money for the months you did not pay and most often it is tacked onto your existing payments, although it may be spread out over a period of time. Be sure to speak with your servicer to understand the details before agreeing to this. More information here.

Options that are not being offered / not available:

Add payment to the back of the loan
Defer payments
Skip payments
Waiving interest

Note: Deferments, skipping payments and adding payments to the back of the loan are not Forbearance options. Deferments permanently alter the terms of the original security instrument by adding missed payments to the back of the loan. Payments under a Forbearance remain due and payable once the time frame expires, and you’ll have to partner with your Servicer for long term Loss Mitigation options (repayment plans, modifications, etc.).

Again-Please contact your servicer directly to understand your options.