What is a mortgage forbearance?

Experiencing a short-term hardship?  A mortgage forbearance may provide temporary payment relief to assist you. These hardships typically come from dealing with a job loss, disability, illness, a recent disaster, divorce, death of a wage earner or other unique circumstances.

In this video, I describe a brief definition on what a mortgage forbearance is. If you have any other questions regarding a mortgage forbearance and you would like to see if you are qualified for it, speak to your mortgage servicer. The mortgage servicer is the company that you pay your mortgage loan payments to and they also perform other services in connection to your mortgage.

What is an escrow?

An escrow account, or impound account depending where you live, is an account that your mortgage lender uses to pay certain property-related expenses such as taxes and home insurance. If you are using a forbearance or thinking about using a forbearance, be mindful. The forbearance does not cover your escrow. Ensure that your escrow is property funded or take care of those property-related expenses on a regular basis, when they are due. Being in default with taxes will lead your property to be foreclosed upon by the government.

What is the CARES Act?

Cited directly from the U.S Department of Treasury’s website,

“The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 provide fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserve jobs for American industries.”

In other words, the CARES Act was put in place to assist home owners who are experiencing difficulty with making on-time mortgage payments due to the national coronavirus emergency.

Find out more here, on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website.

If you are thinking about buying or selling real estate or have any other real estate related questions, please contact me today! I service the Hudson Valley area of New York but I do have a great network all across the country, so if you are looking elsewhere, don’t hesitate to reach out.