By Stephen Richman & Sean Malone
As you might imagine, federal, state and local COVID-19 coronavirus related executive orders may prove good for our physical health these days, but they are quickly taking a toll on the financial health of homeowners, tenants and businesses.
The good news is that here in our neck of the woods – and across the country – moratoriums (aka temporary prohibitions) are being proposed, adopted and amended on an almost daily basis in regards to evictions, foreclosures, utility shut-offs and other potentially crushing blow measures against those struggling to pay bills (and literally survive) in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Federal Relief
At the federal level, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, in consultation with the Trump administration and Coronavirus Task Force, authorized March 18 that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is to implement an immediate foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages for the next 60 days. Moreover, “to keep renters in multifamily properties in their home and to support multifamily property owners during the coronavirus national emergency,” the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced this week that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer multifamily property owners (with a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac-backed, performing multifamily mortgage negatively affected by the coronavirus) mortgage forbearance on the condition that they suspend all evictions for renters unable to pay rent due to the impact of the coronavirus. The eviction suspensions are in place for the entire duration of time that a property owner remains in forbearance.
Private Banks
Additionally, private banks across the country are taking steps to help consumers impacted by the deadly coronavirus. A list of such banks currently offering relief can be found here.
State, County & Local Governments
In between the federal government and private banks, state, county and local governments are lining up to help. Here is a chart of some of the local/state/county moratoriums in place or planned in our area and beyond. Note that this list is expanding on a daily basis.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss further, please reach out to Stephen Richman at sdr@kjk.com or 216.736.7203, Sean Malone at spm@kjk.com or 216.736.7237 or contact any of our Real Estate professionals.