Floridians have experienced many natural disasters that have impacted their homes. From tropical storms to hurricanes, Florida home owners have been through many tough times. Yet, Covid-19 is a completely different disaster for many reasons.
First, hurricanes and storms have a date of impact. With America’s great resources, Floridians can prepare for a specific time frame in which the storm may or may not hit. Covid-19 has no end date as of now. The length of time could be weeks or even months of impacting the economy and people as a whole.
Second, with the mandatory long term restrictions that have been placed on many businesses, it is only a matter of time before people start losing their income source. This has already started happening throughout the United States. Loss of income means a lack of an ability to pay one’s bills, including mortgages.
Hurricane Irma in 2017 left many homeowners in a position to not be able to afford their mortgage payments. Many banks offered a “forbearance” on mortgage payments, ranging from three months to an entire year. A forbearance is an agreement between your bank and the homeowner to temporarily suspend mortgage payments.
I personally have received hundreds of calls from people that had the following scenario occur. The lender and homeowner agree to a forbearance for a period of time. Once that period of time is up, the lender requires full payment of all missed payments up front. Many of the homeowners were unable to pay that full amount. The lender than initiates a foreclosure lawsuit for being delinquent for more than 90 days.
The biggest piece of advice I can give Florida homeowners is the following, if you receive a forbearance from a lender, make sure it is in WRITING and that there is a specific clause in that document allowing you to pick up your REGULAR payments at the end of the forbearance. Do not accept a verbal authorization via a phone call as a safe guard.
If you are a Florida homeowner and you are worried about losing your home in foreclosure due to Covid-19, please call the Haynes Law Group at 1-888-252-8754 for a free consultation on how to protect yourself for the future. We are here to help guide you and protect your homes.
Most importantly, we pray all Floridians stay safe and follow all guidelines from the Florida Governor and President Trump.