There are a number of different and sometimes conflicting measures that have been enacted by the U.S. Treasury department, Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHA, FNMA, Freddie Mac, GNMA, Florida Supreme Court, Florida Governor and the Chief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, among others to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This communication will give a short description of the overall status of the various programs as of June 19, 2020.
Federal Mortgage Protections
• Federally backed mortgages (FHA, FNMA, USDA, GNMA, etc.) are covered by these protections.
• You can determine owns your mortgage at this website.
• As of June 17, 2020, FHA, FNMA and Freddie Mac mortgages now under a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions for single family dwellings until August 31, 2020.
• Approximately 80% of all home mortgages are federally backed.
• Lenders with federally backed mortgages are required to give up to one (1) year of forbearance from making payments. The borrower must request this from the lender/servicer.
• The payments during the forbearance continue to accrue, but the lenders are supposed to work with the borrower on the repayment of those amounts.
• Most private mortgage companies are also offering some form of relief, but it depends on each different servicer and mortgage holder. The borrower must request the relief.
Florida Governor’s Executive Orders
• Governor issued Executive Order 20-94 on April 2, 2020 which suspended and tolled all actions under foreclosure statutes. It also suspended and tolled all residential evictions for non-payment of rent. It was effective for forty-five (45) days from then. It has been extended twice, the last time by Executive Order 20-137 on June 1, 2020 and is now effective until July 1, 2020.
• These orders do not relieve the renter or borrower from the obligation to make the payments.
Florida Supreme Court
• The Florida Supreme Court has issued Administrative Orders suspending what are called writs of possession. This writ allows the party foreclosing on a property or evicting someone from a property to get a writ of possession that gives law enforcement the power to physically remove someone and their possessions from a property. The last of these orders (A)SC 20-23, Amendment 4, issued June 16, 2020) expires on June 30, 2020.
We are happy to answer any additional questions you may have. Please feel free to contact our office.
The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The publication of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Patrick Neale & Associates. The reader should not act or refrain from acting based upon the information contained in this article without first contacting an attorney. The hiring of an attorney is a decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements or this article.