Rozic Statement on Passage of COVID-19 Mortgage Forbearance Legislation

Queens, NY – In response to the Governor signing her legislation that would provide forbearance options for New York homeowners, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D,WF-Fresh Meadows) issued the following statement:

“With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cause unprecedented financial hardship, homeowners deserve the ability to make the soundest financial decisions. This legislation will ­­give homeowners options to catch up on their payments without additional financial strain, fear of foreclosure actions, or damage to their credit. This change will go a long way to help many New Yorkers stay in their homes in the face of an economic recession.”

As part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act homeowners are able to delay payments on federally backed mortgages up to 180 days in “forbearance.” At the state level, Governor Cuomo signed executive order 202.9 which grants forbearance for 90 days to homeowners. At the end of this grace period, people would have had to make the missed payments while still dealing with the immediate financial effects of the pandemic.

This new law addresses this growing problem by giving homeowners three options. The first option is to extend the life of their mortgage by however long their payments were in forbearance, which will provide immediate relief and allow people to pay back lenders with dramatically less financial strain. For example, if a mortgage is scheduled to end in June 2040 and the borrower now foregoes three months of payment, the mortgage payments would be extended to September 2040. Homeowners will also have the options of making larger payments each month to catch up and finish their mortgage payments as originally planned or paying the missed payments as a lump sum at the end of the mortgage timeline.