There may be some lenders that have never offered a forbearance on a mortgage loan or maybe it has just been awhile. Here are some helpful tips:
Within 5 days of receiving a request for forbearance, you must acknowledge receipt.
Within 30 days of receiving a request for forbearance, you must provide notice of your decision.
If you deny the request, you must provide within 14 days of your decision the appeals notice. I would recommend you provide this immediately, your borrower will need this information before 14 days.
If you are struggling with what information to gather for the request, remember, the forbearance you provide under the CARES Act must be coronavirus related and your borrower must state such. FANNIEMAE has a great application for forbearance form which can be used for your inhouse loans as well.
Under Fannie Mae’s guidelines for single-family mortgages:
- Homeowners who are adversely impacted by this national emergency may request mortgage assistance by contacting their mortgage servicer
- Foreclosure sales and evictions of borrowers are suspended for 60 days
- Homeowners impacted by this national emergency are eligible for a forbearance plan to reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to 12 months
- Credit bureau reporting of past due payments of borrowers in a forbearance plan as a result of hardships attributable to this national emergency is suspended
- Homeowners in a forbearance plan will not incur late fees
- After forbearance, a servicer must work with the borrower on a permanent plan to help maintain or reduce monthly payment amounts as necessary, including a loan modification
Solicitation Notice 745 https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide_form/745.doc
Application for forbearance Form 710 https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/media/16051/display
Next post: What happens after forbearance?