DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has joined his colleagues in 34 other states in asking the federal government to offer additional mortgage relief to homeowners who are financially strapped during the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic.
The attorneys' general sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development seeking adjustments to the CARES Act that was signed by President Trump on March 27th.
The Cares Act currently allows borrowers to pause mortgage payments for a limited period of time, and then repay missed payments in a lump sum of seek permanent loss forgiveness. The attorneys' general are asking that borrowers be allowed to roll the missed payments back into their loans to avoid hardship and penalties.
“These recommendations will help millions of American homeowners avoid delinquency and limit the potentially disastrous strain on the mortgage servicing industry,” Miller said.
The letters were written by members of the bipartisan Mortgage Multi-state Executive Committee, of which Iowa is the lead state.
The CARES Act only applies to federally backed mortgages, which are roughly 62 percent of the mortgage market.