As you may already know, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has just signed Executive Order 20-159 extending Florida’s moratorium on Foreclosures and Evictions through August 1, 2020. Executive order 20-159 succeeds Governor DeSantis’ initial Executive Order 20-94 that was entered on April 2, 2020.
It is important to understand that these orders do not relieve a Florida homeowner of their contractual obligation to remit their monthly payment to their mortgage company. Instead, what these Executive Orders do is prevent certain mortgage companies from initiating a foreclosure action, or conducting a foreclosure sale on an existing foreclosure action.
Moreover, it is clearly stated in Executive Order 20-94 (3) that “Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed as relieving an individual from their obligation to make mortgage payments or rent payments.” Meaning that the debt, from the non-payment of a homeowner’s contractual obligations, is still owed to the mortgage company. Neither Executive Order 20-159 nor Executive Order 20-94 discharge or “relieve” a homeowner from their financial responsibilities during the time that said orders are in effect, they only prevent mortgage companies from foreclosing on the homeowner’s property during the specified time period as previously mentioned.
If you are a Florida homeowner and would like to prevent and/or avoid having your mortgage company initiate a Foreclosure action against you, once the Florida moratorium on Foreclosures has been lifted, I strongly suggest that you call the Haynes Law Group directly to discuss what options they may have available to you for assistance during these unprecedented times. It is essential to know your options and even take action early in some circumstances.
The CARES Act currently allows “homeowners,” as defined under the CARES ACT (4022)(a)(2)(A-G), with a federally backed mortgage loan to obtain a forbearance period from their mortgage company. A forbearance means that the mortgage company will defer a homeowner(s) monthly mortgage payment for a specific time period with the total amount, that was deferred, potentially becoming due at the end of the forbearance period. Under the CARES Act (4022)(b)(2), a mortgage company can offer an “initial forbearance period of 180 days and it shall be extended for an additional period of up to 180 days…,” should the homeowner still be experiencing a financial hardship. Under this language, that means a mortgage company can offer a forbearance period of up to 360 days, or in other words, a homeowner can defer their mortgage payments for about 6 - 12 month!
However, most homeowners do not have a complete understanding of what their mortgage company is actually offering, and if the homeowner goes the entire 12-month period without remitting a mortgage payment, it can lead to a disastrous outcome resulting in the homeowner going into foreclosure as soon as the forbearance period ends. This is why it is important for you to seek advice from an experienced Florida Foreclosure Attorney before you accept any type of offer from your Mortgage Company to ensure that the offer being made is the right choice for you in the long-term, especially when it comes to keeping your home.
An example of a forbearance period is as followed: Your monthly mortgage payments are $1,000.00. Then, you enter a forbearance period of three (3) months with your mortgage company and are not required to remit a payment to them for the duration of said forbearance period. On the fourth (4th) month the total, including the payment for the 4th month, now becomes due which means you owe $4,000.00 to your mortgage company for the payments that weren’t remitted during the forbearance period and for your most recent monthly payment.
Finding yourself in this situation can be both confusing and frustrating. If you are a Florida homeowner behind on your mortgage payments, and want to keep your home, please give us a call and Mr. Haynes will personally give you a FREE consultation. My firm has helped save countless homes for Florida homeowners and has handled thousands of Florida foreclosure cases. We represent homeowners all over Florida no matter where their property is located, and we will work tirelessly to help you keep your home and defend it from mortgage companies.