In his daily news update, Governor Lamont today announced a new agreement involving the state Department of Banking and some 50 state banks and credit unions that will provide temporary mortgage relief for residents and businesses affected by the coronavirus. The relief is applicable to residential and commercial mortgages.
Under the agreement, participating financial institutions will provide the following relief:
- 90-day grace period for all mortgage payments:
Participating financial institutions are now offering mortgage-payment forbearances of up to 90 days, which will allow homeowners to reduce or delay monthly mortgage payments.
- Relief from fees and charges for 90 days: For at least 90 days, participating financial institutions will waive or refund mortgage-related late fees and other fees including early CD withdrawals.
- No new foreclosures for 60 days: Financial institutions will not start any foreclosure sales or evictions.
- No credit score changes for accessing relief: For those taking advantage of this COVID-19-related relief, late or missed payments will not be shared with credit reporting agencies.
In addition, the participating institutions will provide: a streamlined process for requesting forbearance for COVID-19-related reasons, supported with available documentation; confirm approval and terms of forbearance program; and provide the opportunity to extend forbearance agreements if faced with continued hardship resulting from COVID-19. More information on the participating institutions and process will be available on the Department of Banking website: https://portal.ct.gov/DOB/Consumer/Consumer-Help/COVID-19-Mortgage-Relief.
Also during the news conference, the Governor remarked that insurance companies have been working on ways to help consumers concerned about paying their bills, including health insurance and property-casualty insurers, and that he expects to have an announcement soon on a proposed grace period for those affected by coronavirus.
Connecticut now has the fourth-highest COVID-19 infection rate per capita in the country — 3,128 — behind New York, New Jersey, Louisiana.
Finally, the Governor announced that state unemployment checks are five weeks behind because of old technology that couldn’t keep up with the 100,000 claims that have been filed in recent weeks, but he emphasized that the payments will be made retroactively.
