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Tag: Cares Act

Applications reopen for CARES Act funding

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – For residents and businesses still working to recover from the financial effects of COVID-19, more help is coming in the form of CARES Act funds.

Nonprofit organizations that previously received funding through the Manatee County distribution of CARES Act money can extend their funding applications through March 31 to receive the same amount previously distributed. The total amount expected to be distributed is $2.9 million.

As part of the county’s phase three extended spending plan, nonprofits that provide food distribution to Manatee County residents can apply for funds beginning Feb. 26. The county has earmarked $750,000 for the effort.

Community health and wellbeing grants up to $5,000 also are available to nonprofits to assist in reconfiguring their spaces to allow for social distancing and to purchase safety equipment. Up to 100 applicants will be awarded the funds for a total of $500,000. The applications are scheduled to open at the end of February.

For homeowners, the mortgage assistance program is reopening the week of Feb. 22, though only 75 applications are planned to be accepted with a total of $500,000 available in funding. The funds will be available to Manatee County homeowners whose mortgage payments are in arrears due to loss of income related to the pandemic.

Small business owners who have not previously received a CARES funding grant with a physical location in Manatee County, 500 employees or fewer and documented financial losses due to COVID-19 can apply for financial assistance. Funds totaling $1 million will be available to brick and mortar and home-based businesses with applications opening on Feb. 8.

Small business owners can also receive up to $5,000 per business for an Open Safe grant to help pay for personal protective equipment, signage, outdoor seating, equipment, supplies and other items. The county plans to accept 250 applications with the application process opening the week of Feb. 8.

The county also has set aside $5 million in funding for vaccine distribution, staffing and COVID-19 testing.

Financial support totaling $4.2 million is being made available to Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Hospital for personal protective equipment and reimbursement for loss due to business interruption from the governor’s executive order 20-72. That order prohibited elective services at hospitals to make room for additional COVID-19 patients. Blake Medical Center opted out of the funding program.

Applications will be taken through Neighborly.com and the application period will only be open for a short time to allow for the quick distribution of funds. Anyone interested in applying for funds can visit this website to determine their eligibility and the requirements to apply for funding before the opening of the application window.

An emergency rental assistance program to sustain housing, not related to CARES Act funds, is being made available to help pay rent and utilities in arrears, home energy costs and other related housing expenses. The total amount available in Manatee County is $12,081,000.

To qualify for the emergency rental assistance program, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, reside in Manatee County, be delinquent on rent or utility payments due to COVID-19 on or after April 1, 2020, qualify for unemployment or be able to prove a reduction in household income or financial hardship due to COVID-19. The applicant also must have a household income of 80% or less below the area median income. The program can provide assistance for up to three months before the applicant has to reapply for additional funding. Manatee County is currently working with local nonprofits to provide utility assistance for utilities not included in rent payments.

Applications will be taken online on Neighborly and open on Feb. 16. More information on the emergency rental assistance program is available here.

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CARES Act funding applications reopen

CARES Act funding applications reopen

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – Applications are reopening for local nonprofit managers, small business owners and residents financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to request CARES Act funding through the county.

CARES Act funding applications for nonprofits open Oct. 19 with Recover Manatee Safety First Small Business Grant Program applications opening Oct. 21 and Manatee CARES Housing Assistance Program applications opening Oct. 28.

The nonprofit funding is only available to expand an existing program for food distribution, including holiday meals, to assist people in recovering from the pandemic. Only food distribution related expenditures are being considered for this round of funding.

A $5,000 grant for the purchase of personal protective equipment and other items needed to reopen safely is also open to applications for nonprofits. Nonprofits that previously received funding through this grant are invited to apply again.

The Recover Manatee Safety First Small Business Grant Program is in its third round and offers up to $50,000 in funding for Manatee County small businesses employing up to 500 people. The funding includes a $5,000 to fund safe operations and up to $45,000 for reimbursement of documented COVID-19 related business losses. Applications are not open to those businesses who’ve already received CARES Act funding.

The Housing Assistance Program provides eligible Manatee County residents with rent and mortgage assistance up to $10,000. Anyone affected by the pandemic with a household income at or below 150% of the area’s median income, $80,400 for a single person or $114,750 for a four-person household, is eligible to apply for funding.

Out of the $70 million in federal CARES Act funding expected to be distributed by Manatee County leaders, more than $6 million has been distributed so far for community health and well-being programs with an additional $10 million given to economic recovery programs, including nonprofits, small businesses and in rental and mortgage assistance.

For more information, or to apply, visit the county’s website.

Castles in the Sand

Mortgage protection in the time of COVID

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

As we keep moving along down this never-ending pandemic road, hardly a day goes by when there isn’t another major hit to our nervous system. Buried in all of this bad news and extraordinary events there have been a few government programs that are helpful to citizens and homeowners. Mortgage forbearance is one of those things, assuming you can work your way through the system.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for millions of homeowners to pay their mortgages. To reduce the risk of widespread foreclosures, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) in March. The CARES Act gives some borrowers temporary protection from foreclosure both by establishing a foreclosure moratorium and offering homeowners forbearance of mortgage payments.

Forbearance allows homeowners to suspend their monthly payments for 180 days with another 180-day extension for qualified homeowners who are impacted directly by the virus. The Cares Act is now extending the foreclosure moratorium at least until the end of 2020. New mortgage servicing guidelines also contain other changes to existing foreclosure and forbearance practices.

Unfortunately, about a third of all borrowers are not covered by the act. Those covered must have home mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Therefore, about 1 million homeowners have fallen through the safety net that the CARES Act provides.

According to the mortgage-data firm Black Knight Inc., about 1.06 million borrowers are past due by at least 30 days on their mortgages and are not in a forbearance program. Out of this number, about 680,000 borrowers have federally-guaranteed mortgages and would qualify under the CARES Act. The balance has loans that aren’t backed by a government program and do not qualify for forbearance, though many of the lenders are attempting to work with these homeowners.

Navigating the waters of mortgage lending is never easy and some qualified homeowners either aren’t aware of the forbearance program or just can’t face the complex nature of what needs to be done. And they’re sometimes right, contacting mortgage servicers, which is the first step alone, is a challenge. Frequently you can’t get through, calls are dropped and/or sent to voice mail and no response is forthcoming. And frequently, just like applying for an original loan, the lenders will keep asking for additional documents and the merry-go-round keeps going.

There are government agencies that have set up websites to help educate borrowers about their rights and procedures as well as consumer advocates and housing-policy experts looking into a national campaign to make borrowers aware of available benefits. However, more needs to be done to help homeowners before they fall into foreclosure or have accumulated so many back payments and fees that they will never catch up until the property is eventually sold, cutting into the equity that most Americans consider their biggest asset.

Even after a safe and effective vaccine is created and distributed, we’ll have years of financial hardship ahead of us, and for some homeowners and business owners, it could be devastating. Congress needs to take an additional look at the millions of homeowners both with government-backed loans and others who will need help. If nothing is done to help and advise these people, we could have a serious flood of foreclosures down the road, hurting both the real estate market and the financial markets.

Stay positive and stay safe.

Castles in the Sand

Mortgage forbearance can lead to foreclosures

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

Sometimes when something looks too good to be true, it is, and this may be one of those times for mortgage forbearance. Just to be clear, the definition of forbearance is a pause, not a termination, not a deferral, just a pause, and in this case, it’s a pause on mortgage payments.

As part of the bill passed by Congress in March called the Cares Act, homeowners whose mortgage loans are backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or the Veterans Administration (VA) are permitted to suspend payments for up to a year. As of the end of May, 4.75 million people took advantage of this “pause” which they were allowed to do without giving proof of any actual hardship.

There are several unintended consequences of depleting the mortgage market of over $1 trillion in unpaid principal to date, without providing any way for homeowners to pay back the money, leaving it to lenders to figure out. This is in addition to homeowners who may not really need the pause because they are still employed, taking the extra funds to use for other reasons or no reason at all.

Also, with low interest rates, about 3.3% for a fixed-rate conventional mortgage – the lowest level on record – you would think it’s a great time for buyers looking for a new home and mortgage. But not so fast, mortgage availability has tightened as lenders impose tougher income, credit score and down payment conditions and fewer mortgage options. Minimum of 20% down payments and credit scores of 700 are back in vogue with big lenders upping their requirements. Part of this is the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, but much of it is an interruption of the normal cash flow into the mortgage market. This could easily threaten the mortgage market’s recovery and housing in general.

Complicating things even further is the pre-pandemic policy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to not guarantee new loans for individuals who had a forbearance on their record. Fannie and Freddie now have to take a look at modifying those policies in order to keep the mortgage market flowing.

The criteria for jumbo loans have contracted the most. Jumbo loans have no government backing and are for mortgage loans above the confirming limit of $510,400 typically insured by the federal government. There are higher conforming limits in certain high-cost areas of the country. Forbearance for jumbo loans was not addressed in the Cares Act, however, certain lenders are extending forbearance to their jumbo loan customers.

All this said, mortgage applications rose 6% in mid-May nationally, indicating buyers are coming back at some level. There is pent-up demand left over from before the national shutdown and now with states starting to slowly reopen, viewing available properties and conducting business will be somewhat easier. In addition, as I’ve previously stated, there is what appears to be a desire to leave over-populated urban areas trending in the country.

It’s too soon to tell whether the forbearance flexibility will achieve the intended purpose of avoiding a wave of defaults down the road. Probably safe to assume there will be mortgage defaults leading to foreclosures when all of this is over. Sadly, some homeowners will never be able to catch up. Stay safe.