COVID19 Disaster Relief – Due to the COVID – 19 Pandemic, East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity recognizes that some of our borrowers are experiencing impact from the virus and therefore, limiting their ability to make their normal monthly mortgage payments. No one should be worried about losing their home during an epidemic.
During this time of crisis, we are working hard to make sure Habitat homebuyers and partner families have access to resources and information. Knowing that many families and individuals will be facing unemployment for an extended period or needing their income for healthcare or emergencies, East St. Tammany Habitat is offering a 90-day deferral on mortgages for our homebuyers affected by COVID-19 during this time of crisis.
To help ease the unexpected burden our homeowners are now facing, management and the board of directors have made several significant decisions to offer relief for individual clients and the community as a whole. This will continue to remain fluid and we remain committed to getting information out to you as fast as possible.
Effective March 20th East St. Tammany Habitat will offer a 90 day payment deferral option for homeowners effective by COVID-19. A client must request the deferral and can do that by filling out the short form HERE. Once the form is submitted, it is reviewed for approval.
Effective March 15th East St. Tammany Habitat will waive any late payment fees and negative credit reporting for loan clients. This will continue through June 2020.
Your monthly house note can be divided into two main parts: the home loan and the escrow, which covers things like homeowners & flood insurance and property taxes. The 90-day deferral means that you have 3 months in which you can make ZERO payments.
The 3 months of loan payments will be tacked on to the end of the loan.
However, if you do not pay any escrow for those 3 months, you will be 3 months short when it is time for Fidelity to analyze your escrow balance to see if there’s enough to cover your insurances and taxes. So instead of letting your insurance lapse, Fidelity will front the money and then take that amount and spread it out over the following 12 months, added on to your normal monthly note.
For example, if your monthly escrow is $200, and you don’t pay anything during the 90-day deferral, you will be $600 short. Fidelity will pay that, but then divide that $600 by 12, which equals $50, and add that $50 to your monthly note for the following 12 months.
If you decide to continue paying all or part of your escrow during the deferral, you will not be as far behind when Fidelity does the escrow analysis, so your house note will be less impacted.
If you have additional questions, please call (985) 639-0656.
If you have questions about the loan deferral, you can contact the Habitat for Humanity at (985) 639-0656. If you have specific questions about your escrow, please contact LoanOperations@BankWithFidelity.com or (800) 220-2497 and indicate that you are an East Habitat homeowner.
