Are you struggling with mortgage payments on your Boston condo, and would like some guidance on how you can contact and work with mortgage companies to find solutions? Check out Fannie Mae’s new website www.KnowYourOptions.com. This site was launched way back in the early 2000’s and is a new consumer education website that helps homeowners who are a little lost in the mortgage world. The site is both English and Spanish friendly and is easy to navigate.
Boston property owners skipping mortgage payments
More homeowners are choosing to skip their monthly mortgage payments in favor of paying off other debt obligations.
A newly-published Fitch Rating report attributes the reason in part to coronavirus-related government relief programs that provide grace periods for home loan payments. Fitch also said that cash-strapped mortgage borrowers are paying off credit cards and other consumer debt instead because those bills are lower and have greater short-term consequences.
Cares Act helps real estate owners
The federal government’s $2 trillion CARES Act allows homeowners with federally-backed mortgages to defer payments for up to 180 days. Million of Americans have taken advantage of the forbearance option, though the share of loans in forbearance hit a two-month low in July.
Continued uncertainty in the economy and the job market is also pushing people to prioritize credit card payments in order to allow for future purchases. Consumers are also more likely to keep up with auto loan payments because of the “importance of personal mobility due to the social distancing challenges with public transportation,” the report noted.
Fitch said the trend matches the one set during the last global financial crisis when U.S. consumers largely opted to pay down their credit cards and auto loans but not their mortgages. This time around, rock-bottom mortgage rates mean deferring payments for many is cheaper than ever,
KnowYourOptions.com includes:
- Interactive Options Finder to help identify options that might be right for a specific situation
- Calculators to help understand how many of the options work, including refinancing, repayment, forbearance and modification.
- Videos discussing homeowners that already been helped
- A virtual assistant to help walk through the site
- Next steps and helpful forms
Boston Real Estate and the Bottom Line
For more information visit www.KnowYourOptions.com or www.fanniemae.com
