President Donald Trump listens as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson speaks during a … [+]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson urged mortgage borrowers struggling financially due to the coronavirus to contact their loan providers and seek forbearance.
Carson spoke Saturday during the White House conference on the administration’s response to the spread of the virus.
“We have asked the various servicers of mortgage loans to exercise forbearance for anybody who is having difficulties,” says Carson. “It is important if you are having difficulties to actually contact the people who have established the mortgage.”
That is because while HUD extends an automatic moratorium on foreclosures and evictions on single-family properties with FHA or reverse mortgage loans, the department has no authority over offering temporary payment forbearance.
Homeowners adversely impacted can also pursue different options for cash assistance.
Carson also said that HUD is working with permanent supportive housing units, which provide affordable housing to vulnerable individuals, to stop evictions and extend forbearance to those in need.
Moreover, Carson said that HUD will issue Section 8 housing vouchers for the month of April next week, while vouchers for May are still finalized.
Earlier this week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as directed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), also ceased executing evictions and foreclosures on the properties whose mortgages they own.