HUD: 274K FHA Borrowers Avoided Foreclosure
HUD says steps it took to protect homeowners with an FHA loan during the pandemic helped up to 274K Floridians and up to 2M Americans avoid foreclosure.
WASHINGTON – Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said that efforts to help homeowners with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan during the pandemic were so successful that their COVID-19 toolkit has been extended to help all eligible borrowers going forward.
According to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, approximately 2 million homeowners with FHA mortgages were able to stay in their homes during the pandemic, from March 2020 through December 2022. HUD offered two kinds of help to these owners: Either a COVID-19 forbearance or a more permanent solution, such as a loan modification.
In Florida, HUD says 165,800 homeowners with an FHA loan received assistance via forbearance, and 108,800 took advantage of home retention support, for a total of 274,600 Florida households.
HUD says it helped 1,845,000 FHA mortgage holders nationwide enter into forbearance. A total of 1.2 million – some of those also included in forbearance numbers – were able to avoid foreclosure by resuming payments or obtaining a loan modification.
However, not everyone is out of the woods yet. Another 58,000 FHA borrowers are still working with their servicer to finalize an option to avoid foreclosure.
“Although the pandemic has ended, the economic effects will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future,” says HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “These impactful and effective foreclosure prevention tools will help struggling borrowers find the right option to help them get back on their feet and keep them in their homes.”
HUD has an online fact sheet that provides a breakdown of forbearance and loss mitigation by state.
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