Mortgage Relief Programs For 2021
If youve had a temporary job loss or reduction in income, it can be hard to keep up with mortgage payments especially if you have an above-market mortgage rate thats keeping your payments artificially high.
The simple solution is to refinance into a lower interest rate and cheaper mortgage payment.
Thanks to rising home values, even homeowners who made a very small down payment or refinanced recently could be eligible for todays low-interest rates.
Even if you dont think youd qualify for a refinance, its worth talking to a lender. Many homeowners are eligible but dont know it yet.
Whats more, not everyone needs great credit or perfect finances to qualify for a refinance.
Select programs, like the government-backed Streamline Refinance, can help borrowers refinance with little, no, or negative home equity.
Even if you dont think youd qualify for a refinance, its worth talking to a lender.
Homeowners might be surprised at the amount of equity theyve gained in todays hot housing market. And with rates still near record lows, many borrowers can easily save hundreds every month.
Those savings could put some cushion back in your budget and seriously improve your personal finances.
Flouting Expert Guidance Leading To White House Coronavirus Outbreak
Disregarding public health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , the White House hosted what medical experts are calling a coronavirus super spreader event on September 26, 2020, to announce the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Over 200 people attended the densely packed event, where guests mingled indoors as well as outside, with few wearing masks or physically distancing from one another. According to a White House official, this is where President Trump, along with Senators Mike Lee and Thom Tillis and members of the military, may have become infected with the coronavirus. At least 34 White House staffers and other contacts have been infected, including members of the White House housekeeping staff, as well as White House reporters.
As public health experts have explained throughout the pandemic, contact tracing is essential to stopping the spread of the virus. However, for nearly a week after the president announced that he had contracted the virus, the White House refused to allow the CDC to perform contact tracing , even though the CDC has the federal governments most extensive resources to do so. In the absence of a systematic effort to trace or advise attendees of the White House event, many dispersed across the country, engaging in activities that risked spreading the virus, including visiting public gyms and touring manufacturing facilities.
Trumps Budget Reveals That He Wants Everyday Americans To Pay For His Tax Cuts For The Wealthy
The president’s budget pays for his tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations by slashing health care, education, and other critical investments.
- Alan Cohen
- John Norris
In December 2017, President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress enacted legislation providing large tax cuts overwhelmingly weighted to corporations and the wealthy. By draining federal revenue, the tax bill will increase deficits by an estimated $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Congressional Republicans have been loath to discuss how they plan on paying for these massive giveaways. But the presidents budget, released today, reveals how the Trump administration proposes to pay for the tax cutsand the picture is not pretty.
Trumps budget would cut $675 billion from federal health care spending over 10 years by repealing the Affordable Care Act and eviscerating the traditional Medicaid program, leaving millions fewer with health coverage. It would decimate education funding, making the most significant cuts in 30 years. It would cut programs that millions of Americans depend on to find a good job, keep a roof over their head, or put food on the table. It would also slash Social Security and other programs for people with disabilities. And it would severely cut public investments that are necessary for broad-based economic growth and a strong middle class. And as new polling by the Center for American Progress shows, this Robin-Hood-in-reverse agenda is the opposite of what the American people want.
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Signed Into Law And Signing Statement
A few hours after the House passed the bill, it was signed into law by President Trump.
In a signing statement, Trump suggested he could gag the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery insofar as his constitutional powers as president enabled him to block the SIGPR’s reports to Congress. According to The New York Times, the statement was consistent with Trump’s “history of trying to keep damaging information acquired by an inspector general from reaching Congress”.
Part of the CARES act set aside $8 billion to federally-recognized “tribal governments”. The Treasury Department earmarked about $500 million of those funds to go towards Alaska Native corporations , which provided similar governance as typical tribal leadership in the lower 48 states. Three native Indian tribes sued on the basis that under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 , ANCs were not federally-recognized tribal governments and should not be eligible for CARES funds. The case was eventually heard by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in June 2021 that ANCs did qualify as tribal governments under the ISDA, and thus eligible to receive the set-aside funds.
A Look Inside Cyrus Vance Jrs Tenure As Manhattan Da
President Trump on Sunday signed a $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill that includes $600 stimulus checks for most Americans, after refusing to accept the deal for days.
The nearly 5,600-page bill passed the House and Senate by overwhelming margins Monday night, just hours after its text was released.
Trump signed it several days after saying the legislation was a disgrace and calling on Congress to up the relief payments to $2,000 and scale back spending.
In a statement Sunday night, the president said he would ask for millions of dollars in spending to be removed from the bill.
I will sign the Omnibus and Covid package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed, Trump said.
While the president insisted he would send Congress a redlined version with items to be removed under the rescission process, those are merely suggestions to Congress. The bill, as signed, would not necessarily be changed.
The bill authorizes direct checks of $600 for people earning up to $75,000 per year. The amount decreases for higher earners, and people who make over $95,000 get nothing.
Theres an additional $600-per-child stimulus payment.
In his statement, Trump said Congress on Monday would vote on a separate bill to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000.
Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200, the president said about the increase, which would require Republican approval.
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Retirement Plans And Retirement Accounts
- Waives the 10% tax penalty for early distributions from IRAs, 401 plans, 403 plans, and 457 plans if:
- The individual, their spouse, or their dependent has been diagnosed with COVID-19
- The individual experienced adverse financial consequences because they were quarantined, furloughed, or laid off, or because their employer reduced their working hours or
- The individual experienced adverse financial consequences because the individual is unable to work due to lack of child care.
- A plan administrator is allowed to rely on the participant’s assertion that one of these events occurred.
- Distributions are still subject to income taxes, although the individual may choose to spread the payment of the income taxes over three years, rather than paying them all in one year. Alternatively, if the distributed amount is repaid into any , see ) IRA or employer-sponsored retirement plan within three years of receiving the early distribution, no income taxes will be due.
How To Refinance Second Mortgages Heres What You Need To Know
Many homeowners refinance their mortgage at least once during the lifespan of their loan. If you already have a second mortgage, you may not have considered the possibility of refinancing your second mortgage. Refinancing second mortgages may prove to be beneficial for homeowners who are looking for lower interest rates and monthly payments.
Refinancing a second mortgage is generally similar to refinancing the first mortgage, but there may be different reasons to refinance again.
If you want to learn about refinancing your second mortgage, then read on. Youll need to take some steps in order to refinance.
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Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Announces Additional Actions To Prevent Foreclosures
These options augment additional COVID protections HUD published last month. These included the foreclosure moratorium extension, forbearance enrollment extension, and the COVID-19 Advance Loan Modification: a product that is directly mailed to eligible borrowers who can achieve a 25% reduction to the P& I of their monthly mortgage payment through a 30-year loan modification. HUD believes that the additional payment reduction will help more borrowers retain their homes, prevent future re-defaults, help more low-income and underserved borrowers build wealth through homeownership, and assist in the broader COVID-19 recovery.
Additional AssistanceIn addition to these new opportunities for borrowers, agencies across the federal government are also taking other steps to support borrowers as our economic and public health recovery continues.
Giving Borrowers the Information They Need to Understand their OptionsThese new loan modification and payment reduction options will only give borrowers the relief they need if borrowers have the information to understand their options.
Borrowers should contact their servicer or housing counselor as soon as possible to learn more about the options available.
For borrowers not currently in forbearance, there is still an opportunity to access relief.
Primary Dealer Credit Facility And Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility
On March 20, 2020, the Fed relaunched a Great Recession-era program: the Primary Dealer Credit Facility , which has given loans to primary dealers backed by a wide variety of securities as collateral. There was no set limit to the amount of credit issued. The program ran until March 31, 2021.
To add more liquidity to money markets, the Fed announced the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility on March 18, 2020. This program lent money to financial institutions so they can buy money market mutual funds.
This program was similar to the AMLF program launched in 2008 after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused a major money market fund to fail. It did not have a specific lending limit but ended on March 31, 2021.
The Treasury Department gave the MMLF $10 billion of debt credit protection for the program. On May 5, 2020, the central bank said that participation in the MMLF wouldnt affect the liquidity coverage ratio of participating banks.
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Trump Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Proposal
President Trump proposed his own set of reforms to the student loan program in his fiscal year 2018 budget request to Congress, including major changes to IBR that would apply to new borrowers.21 The proposal increases monthly payments to 12.5 percent of discretionary income, the midpoint between the original 2007 version of IBR and the current IBR program it lengthens the loan forgiveness mark for borrowers with any amount of debt from graduate school to 30 years, but shortens the term to 15 years for borrowers with only debt from undergraduate studies it abolishes the additional repayment cap set to a borrowers 10-year payment schedule .
Although they are somewhat separate from the changes to IBR, the proposal would eliminate Subsidized Stafford loans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Borrowers who lose eligibility for Subsidized Stafford loans can still borrow the same amounts through Unsubsidized Stafford loans there is no net reduction in the amount students can borrow as a result of that change. We exclude changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in our analysis.
Figure 1: Comparing Student Loan Benefits
Regulation Changes And Policy Updates
The Fed made regulation changes to further add liquidity to the markets. For instance, the Fed made a number of technical changes to hold on to less capital so it can lend more. It temporarily removed the asset restrictions placed on Wells Fargo after its fake accounts scandal, so that Wells Fargo could lend more.
On Dec. 16, 2020, the Fed announced that its policy of quantitative easing would continue until substantial further progress has been made toward inflation and employment goals. The Fed expects this progress to take years, based on projections it also released that day.
On March 19, 2021, the Fed announced that it was letting its policy of relaxing bank reserve requirements expire on March 31, 2021, as scheduled. The policy, originally announced on May 15, 2020, temporarily allowed banks to exclude Treasuries and deposits with Fed banks from their balance sheets for the purpose of calculating reserve requirements, allowing them to lend more.
On March 25, 2021, the Fed announced that the temporary restrictions on dividends and buybacks that it placed on banks in 2020 would end after June 30, 2021, for banks that meet capital requirements during the 2021 stress tests. Restrictions were extended for banks that fail to meet capital requirements.
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Federal Stimulus Program For Homeowners
The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package has passed. It includes direct payments and unemployment benefits boost to eligible Americans. If you havent read the details on this, you can read from here.
Also, the Internal Revenue Service postponed the deadline for tax payment. The deadline for 2019 tax payments is now July 15, not April 15. But you still have to file your taxes before the April 15 deadline.
While the stimulus bill covers a wide variety of Americans, there are also certain things that will benefit homeowners. The federal stimulus program allows homeowners who pay a mortgage to request mortgage loan forbearance. Initially, it was thought that only the forbearance could be requested for federally backed loans such as the FHA and VA Loans. Now that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed, it has been cleared out.
Regardless of the type and delinquency of the mortgage you have, you can now suspend your payments upon request. During the 180 days, you wont be subject to any late penalties or interests.
There is also a similar situation that applies to borrowers of multifamily mortgages. If you own a multifamily property and did not have any late payments as of February 1st, you can request a forbearance as well.
Pros And Cons Of Refinancing Second Mortgages
here are a number of pros and cons to consider when it comes to refinancing second mortgages.
Pros:
- Change your existing loan rate and term: If interest rates have dropped, you may want to consider refinancing to take advantage of new rates.
- Lower monthly payments: Lower interest rates may also mean lower monthly payments on your house.
- Allow you to switch to a fixed interest rate: This is good for those who are at a variable rate and would want a fixed rate due to rising interest rates.
- Consolidate debt: Refinancing your second mortgage will give you access to more funds, depending on your homes equity, that you can then use to consolidate high-interest debt, such as credit card debt or student loans.
Cons:
- Consider the extended life of the loan: If you refinance a second loan, you will usually be prolonging the life of the loan and, therefore, be making payments longer.
- Cost: Refinancing can be costly, as you will need to pay, at minimum, an appraisal fee, as well as closing costs.
Summary
Refinancing a second mortgage may be the right option for you if you are seeking a more favorable interest rate or lower monthly mortgage payments. Refinancing a second mortgage is similar to refinancing a first mortgage you will want to have a good credit score, employment history, and debt-to-income ratio to qualify for the best interest rates.
Talk to an expert before pursuing a refinancing of a second mortgage to ensure that it is the best choice for you.
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Businesses Connected To Politicians And Political Donors
Businesses owned by the president, senior government officials, and their immediate families are ineligible for funds distributed through the $500 billion Economic Stabilization Fund. A business falls into this category if it is at least 20% owned or controlled by a person in the restricted group. Such businesses may nonetheless still be eligible for funds distributed through the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program or through the $15 billion change to the tax code.
Jared Kushner’s businesses may generally be eligible for relief under the Economic Stabilization Fund because, according to The New York Times, he usually owns less than 20% of his family’s real estate projects.
On April 21, the Trump Organization said it would not seek a Small Business Administration federal loan. ” rel=”nofollow”> federal building in Washington, D.C. Eric Trump said he hoped the General Services Administration would treat the Trump Organization “the same” as its other tenants.)
Clay Lacy Aviation, a California-based private jet charter company that serves business executives and celebrities, received a government grant of nearly $27 million that it does not have to repay. In 2016, the company’s founder, Clay Lacy, donated $47,000 to the Republican Party after it officially nominated Trump and also donated the maximum allowable $2,700 directly to the Trump campaign.