Praying provides protection to homeowners. What you need to know

Homeowners struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic received welcome news on Tuesday, while Biden’s government announced it would expand its tolerance and relief programs for the negative.

The White House said the move would benefit the 2.7 million homeowners currently in Covid tolerance and expand the availability of tolerances for about 11 million other government-backed mortgage lenders nationwide.

“Since the crisis has been going on for much longer than anyone expected, it is only appropriate to expand remedies that we know work,” said Sarah Gerecke, associate professor of planning at New York University. Many of the lighting options would expire next month.

Do you have questions about the new protection? Here are some answers.

Mortgages with federal support, or about 70% of the borrowers, are eligible for the additional tolerances.

If you have such a home loan, you can report a tolerance until June 30 and possibly for six months thereafter. If you have a mortgage with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you can defer payments for another three months.

“The easiest way to find out if you are eligible and to seek payment relief if you need it is to contact your lender,” said Greg McBride, chief financial officer at Bankrate.com.

Burdensome paper requirements prevented many homeowners from getting relief during the 2008 crisis, McBride said.

Fortunately, you only have to testify during the pandemic that you are in financial trouble.

Yes. Your tolerance will not be automatically renewed.

“You need to contact your lender and ask for it,” McBride said.

Some people will be tolerant for as long as 18 months, as the first incentive package adopted in March, the CARES Act, offered homeowners two 180-day relief periods, and now the Biden administration is offering them two additional three-month breaks.

Fortunately, if you are eligible for the tolerance, you do not have to make up your payment at the end of the relief period in a lump sum. (Although, if you are one of the 30% of homeowners who do not have a government-backed or guaranteed mortgage, you can.)

Instead, you can ask for your payments to be recovered until the end of your loan, McBride said.

For example, if you missed 12 months of payments, it would take you 31 years to repay a 30-year mortgage.

You must be safe until at least the end of June.

“You will not be excluded during the moratorium unless you have vacated or abandoned your property, “said Sara Singhas, director of loan administration at the Association for Mortgage Lending.