Storm victims may get reprieve on loan payments
Loan servicers have been asked to give Hurricane Sandy victims a break if they are late on mortgage payments. If you need forbearance, you'll need to call and ask.
If your house suffered damage or was destroyed during Sandy, you may wonder if you still have to pay your mortgage.
The short answer is yes, even if you no longer have a home.
But you may get a break on due dates or even a period of months when you don’t have to pay, though the unpaid balance will be added to what you owe.
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The government-supported entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have asked loan servicers to grant borrowers in the disaster zones a bit of mortgage relief: more time to make payments, a delay on foreclosure or other negotiated accommodations.
If the reason you didn’t make payments on time was because your checks were destroyed, you had to leave your home or you couldn’t go online to do your banking, having a few more days to make the payments without having your credit damaged or being assessed a late fee could be helpful.
But perhaps your home suffered more serious damage, and you’ll now be spending the next year wrestling with contractors and insurance companies in an effort to get it repaired. You may even have to rent another place to live.
If you have suffered a disaster-related hardship, it’s up to you to call your loan servicer, explain the situation and ask for forbearance or other relief. Any mortgage relief is granted on a case-by-case basis.
While Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have asked loan servicers to grant borrowers whose loans they back some relief, there is no guarantee they will do so. It’s up to each servicer to decide how it will treat late payments. If your only issue is lack of electricity, you may want to pay as soon as possible after your power returns to avoid late fees.
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If a homeowner (those with mortgages) want to work out a deal with their lean holder, good luck with that........I just dont want any TAX money going to help.
We need to get rid of FEMA.They are proving once again that they are inefficent and a significant drain on resources.
Second, Unless these folks NATIONAL FLOOD INURANCE covers their costs, DONT DUMP THEIR POOR DECISIONS ( after all, it was THEIR CHOICE to live where they do/did) on the TAXPAYER. If the NFI cant cover the costs to rebuild, then they need to look at buying them out. Are people REALLY that stupid to keep building in harms way?!?!?! Makes me think of Sam Kinneson (sp?) and his rant about people in Africa starving because they choose to live in the "F*CKING DESERT!!!!".......
The role of the US Government is not to bail out (and for heavens sake, KEEP BAILING OUT bone heads who build in such risky locations).
Sound harsh? TOOOOOOOOOOO BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD, SOOOOOOOOOOOOO SAAAAAAAAAAAAAD! It is called PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY PEOPLE. Yes, it is a LOST characteristic as this county has become my BROTHERS KEEPER.
We need a TAXPAYER ROVOLT!
New Orleans received 10's of millions of dollars for rebuilding and some areas still look like trash. Those who donate money need to have transparency to see that their money is spent as they intended not the other way around.
Along the Gulf Coast and Florida there is the annual hurricane season. It comes without fail.
In the midwest flooding or drought, and twisters,
In the upper midwest bitter cold, blizzards and ice storms
In the northeast, well it is generally relatively safe except for once every 50 years or so (though that is becoming more frequent) when a killer nor'easter strikes.
"From sea to shining sea."
We are all in this together. We are Americans and we help our fellow citizens when disaster hits.
Yeah, that's what we do.
It is REQUIRED, that anyone with a mortgage, also has Home Owner Insurance. If a Home Owner doesn't buy Insurance on their own, then the Mortgage company will purchase a policy for them, usually at a higher rate. If a Mortgage company let some of their clients slip through the cracks, then to bad, so sad for them.
On the other hand however, if my home burns down or gets blown away by a tornado, I expect my insurance company to cover my loss. If they don't cover it, then I will be packing up my guns and paying the CEO of my insurance company a visit in person.
That's mighty white of the bankers and the mort. folks to give the hurricane damaged owners a break what with the power down,banks closed and the all impotant and highly flanted mass transit system complete shut down.
Then again is it really so smart to fund homes that sit on a BARRIER island ??
Just declare it a national island and make them move so where safe like the city!
And now you know.
About Teresa Mears
Teresa Mears is a veteran journalist who has been interested in houses since her father took her to tax auctions to carry the cash at age 10. A former editor of The Miami Herald's Home & Design section, she lives in South Florida where, in addition to writing about real estate, she publishes Miami on the Cheap to help her neighbors adjust to the loss of 60% of their property value.
