April 23, 2020 – Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and 33 other attorneys general are calling on extra precautions to be put in place to protect homeowners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

AG Slatery signed on to letters addressed to the leaders of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA).

While praising coverage in the CARES Act which protects homeowners with loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and other federal entities, the attorneys general believe it does not go far enough.

For example, homeowners currently are allowed a forebearance period but once that period ends, they will be forced to repay missed payments in a lump sum or agree to a loss mitigation solution.

The attorneys general are asking FHFA and HUD to revise current forebearance programs so that missed payments are instead placed at the end of the loan’s term. Attorneys general also want the programs to expand eligibility to disaster relief programs.

The letters also call for FHFA and HUD to clarify the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions applies to all aspects of the foreclosure and eviction processes, including pre-foreclosure and acceleration notices, filing of motions, or any other actions while the moratorium is in place.

The attorneys general note the CARES Act forebearance period only covers those with federally backed mortgages (62% of the market) and anyone without such mortgages should reach out to their holder to see if they are offering any relief programs.

By Adrian Mojica, Fox 17 Nashville
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