CENLAR Coronavirus Mortgage Forbearance Information

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Phone: 800-223-6527

Website: cenlar.com

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Impacted by Coronavirus?

We Are Here to Help.
If you have been impacted financially by the Coronavirus, you may qualify for monthly mortgage payment assistance options, such as a forbearance plan.

During this exceptionally challenging time, we are here to help you navigate the various mortgage assistance programs that may be available to help you. However, we must adhere to federal, state, investor and local municipality written guidance on mortgage assistance options.

Our team is diligently monitoring the situation daily for any changes that would impact the assistance we may be permitted to offer.

Please know that we are aware of the new Coronavirus Stimulus Bill (CARES Act) the President signed into law on Friday, March 27th, 2020. We are reviewing the requirements under the law and will begin offering any assistance programs as soon as possible.

A forbearance is a temporary suspension of your monthly mortgage payment. During the forbearance period, your payments are suspended for a set period of time.

However, if you are able to make partial payments, it will reduce the amount due at the end of the forbearance period.

Important note: At the end of the forbearance period, all suspended payments will become due.

Additional assistance options may also be available to you:

  • Repayment Plan: The total amount of suspended payments is spread out over future payments until the full amount is repaid.
  • Payment Deferral: Deferment of suspended or past due principal and interest payments as a non-interest bearing balance, due and payable at maturity of the mortgage loan, or earlier upon the sale or transfer of the property, refinance of the mortgage loan or payoff of the unpaid principal balance and any unpaid fees.
  • Loan Modification: Permanently change the terms of your mortgage to bring it current.

Examples of How a Forbearance Works

1. John’s monthly mortgage payment is $1,000 and is due on March 1st.

  • He chooses a forbearance in March.
  • As a result, the forbearance period will run from March through May.
  • During this time his monthly mortgage payments are suspended.

At the end of the forbearance period, John will owe a total of $4,000 on June 1st = $3,000 for the March through May payments, plus his June payment of $1,000.

2. John’s monthly mortgage payment is $1,000 and is due April 1st.

  • He chooses a forbearance in March.
  • As a result, the forbearance period will run from April through June. During this time his monthly mortgage payments are suspended.
  • At the end of the forbearance period, John will owe a total of $4,000 on July 1st = $3,000 for the April through June payments, plus his July payment of $1,000.

Also, negative credit reporting and late charges will not occur during the duration of the forbearance period. Toward the end of the forbearance period, we will work with you to determine eligibility for additional options should you need them.

Options could include the following but there may be additional eligibility requirements and documentation required for you to provide prior to approval.

  1. Extension of the Forbearance Plan period
  2. Repayment Plan
  3. Payment Deferral: There may be additional eligibility requirements and documentation required.
  4. Loan Modification. There may be additional eligibility requirements and documentation required.

We are closely monitoring for any announced relief and support measures that may be offered and will make them available to you promptly. We will post new information on our website as it becomes available.

What’s next? 
If you would like to be considered for a mortgage assistance option, such as a forbearance plan, please complete and submit the form here to our team for review.

Please know that submission of the form does not guarantee eligibility to be placed on mortgage assistance plan. Eligibility may also be dependent on investor guidelines and loan status along with potentially requiring you to submit additional documentation prior to approval.

We are asking for your help.
We expect to experience very heavy call volumes and wait times during this time as we work with those experiencing financial hardships due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The quickest way for us to assist you is by submitting the information below. We sincerely thank you for your patience and ask that you allow us the time to handle your request.

Information for Borrowers

We’re here working to help you look after your most significant asset. Owning a home is an investment like no other because it represents the center of what matters to you, especially now. We get that. There’s nothing more important to us than helping you protect your home – and all that it means to you.

This is an extremely trying time. If you need to pursue mortgage assistance, we are here to help you understand your options and guide you through every step of the process.

To make this as easy as we can, we’ve loaded this website with lots of useful information, resources, and a questionnaire to assist you in making the decision that’s best for you. And, you can get the process started right here so that you can attend to other important parts of life right now.

A new federal law, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act now offers mortgage assistance options for borrowers who have federally-backed mortgages and who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the virus.

But before you make any decisions about pursuing these options, carefully assess your situation. If you are still able to pay your mortgage, even in part, please try to do so. Mortgage assistance does not relieve you from your obligation to make your payments.

Carefully read the information below and the linked Frequently Asked Questions to understand your options.  You may also go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for tools and resources to help you navigate the financial impact of the coronavirus. Watch the CFPB video for information about mortgage assistance options.

What You Need to Know

The CARES Act offers certain protections for any homeowner whose mortgage is backed by the federal government. It’s not always easy to understand whether your mortgage loan is federally or not federally-backed. Or, in other words, who owns your mortgage loan. Many mortgage loans are sold and the servicer you pay every month may not own your mortgage. When the owner of your loan transfers the mortgage to a new owner, the new owner is required to send you a notice.

There are some online tools you can use to look up who owns your mortgage, for example, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both offer a mortgage lookup tool on their website.

Homeowner protections under the CARES Act include:

1.A right to forbearance due to financial hardship
The CARES Act allows you as the borrower to request a forbearance on your federally-backed mortgage.* A forbearance is a temporary suspension of all or part of your monthly mortgage payment for an initial period of up to 180 days. Forbearance does not mean your payments are forgiven. You are still required to fully repay your suspended payments but you won’t have to do so all at once unless you are able. After the initial forbearance period, if you are still financially impacted by the coronavirus, your forbearance period may be extended for up to another 180 days. You may request to shorten either the initial or extended forbearance period at any time. However, if your forbearance period or financial hardship has ended, there are other options that may be available to you based on investor and insurer guidelines such as a repayment plan or loan modification.  We will work with you to evaluate your financial situation if required and review options available to you at the end of the forbearance period. See below for more information.

* The CARES Act only applies to federally-backed mortgages. The vast majority of borrowers in owner-occupied homes have federally-backed loans. If you do not have a federally-backed mortgage, other mortgage assistance options may be open to you, but different eligibility requirements may apply.

A Note about Deferment: Deferment suspends the principal and interest portion of your mortgage payments for a specific period of time and defers them to the end of your loan. Currently, if your loan is federally-backed, a period of forbearance from the requirement to make monthly payments is the first phase of helping a consumer who is facing immediate hardship as a result of the coronavirus.  It is an initial pause that precedes the determination of an appropriate solution to the issue of repayment of the forborne payments. It is only when the hardship has passed that your options for repayment, including the option of payment deferral (if offered for the loan type in question), can be evaluated based upon your financial situation at that time. However, if your mortgage loan is not backed by the federal government you may be eligible for other options like deferment, depending upon the owner of your loan. PLEASE CONTINUE READING FOR MORE INFORMATION.

2. A foreclosure moratorium
For federally-backed mortgage loans, your lender or loan servicer may not foreclose or take eviction action on you for 60 days after March 18, 2020. Specifically, the CARES Act prohibits lenders and servicers from beginning a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure against you, or from finalizing a foreclosure judgment or sale, during this period of time.  For non-federally-backed mortgage loans, some states have also implemented moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions.

Key Information

Applying for Forbearance

Due to heavy call volume and long wait times in our call centers, we encourage you to use our website and form to pursue forbearance.

You do not need to submit additional documentation to qualify other than your claim to have a coronavirus pandemic-related financial hardship. There will be no additional fees, penalties or additional interest (beyond scheduled amounts) added to your account during the forbearance period.

If you are already on a forbearance plan due to a financial hardship because of the coronavirus, you’ve already taken the first step. There’s no need to do anything more at this time. We will contact you during forbearance to discuss your options, such as extending your forbearance, should you still require mortgage assistance.

Late Charges and Credit Reporting

For federally-backed mortgage loans under the CARES Act, no late charges will occur on your account during forbearance. In addition, under the CARES Act, if your loan was current at the start of your forbearance plan, your loan will remain current for credit reporting through the duration of the forbearance period. However, if your loan was delinquent at the start of your forbearance plan, your loan will remain delinquent throughout the forbearance period unless you bring your loan current.

Stopping Automatic Payments

If your automatic monthly draft was set up with us, your payment will be stopped when your forbearance plan begins.

If you set up monthly drafting (bill pay) with your financial institution, you will need to contact them directly to stop automatic drafting.

Partial Payments

If your financial situation improves and you are able to make partial mortgage payments, you will reduce the amount due at the end of your forbearance period. Those partial payments will be placed in a suspense account to be applied once a full mortgage payment is received.  No additional interest will accrue.

What Happens When Forbearance or Financial Hardship Ends?

Once the forbearance period (including any extensions) is over, we will work with you to determine your best options based on your financial situation.  There are several mortgage assistance options that may be available to you after the forbearance period, depending upon the type of loan you have.  These options may include:

  • Loan Reinstatement:  If you are able to afford it, you can reinstate — which means paying any delinquent amounts including the amounts that became due during forbearance. For example, on August 1st after completing a 90 day forbearance from May through July, paying the 3 forborne payments plus the August payment would reinstate your loan if you were not delinquent when forbearance began.
  • Repayment Plan: We can set up a repayment plan, allowing you to catch up gradually while you are paying your regular monthly payment. Under a repayment plan, your past due amount will be spread out over a set timeframe (e.g. 3, 6, 9 months) and added on to your existing mortgage payment amount.*
  • Modification where your regular principal plus interest amount stays the same: If you can’t afford a repayment plan, but you are ready to resume making your normal monthly payment, we can implement a way of paying back the suspended payments in a manner that maintains your original payment amount.*
  • Modification where your payments are reduced: If you have a sustained reduction in income resulting from the crisis, then we can look at a modification (changes to the terms of your loan) that might suit your new circumstances; those changes will aim to reduce your original monthly payment amount.*
  • Partial Claim (for FHA-insured loans only): If you have an FHA loan and occupy your property, we will evaluate you for various options that may allow you to defer forborne payments or modify the terms of your loan.  These include the COVID-19 National Emergency Standalone Partial Claim option for borrowers less than 30 days delinquent as of March 1, 2020, which allows you to defer forborne payments until your loan is paid off.  If you are not eligible for the Coronavirus Standalone Partial Claim, you will be evaluated for FHA’s other loss mitigation tools to help you repay the balance owed over time.*
  • For VA loans: If you have a VA loan, you may be eligible for loan modification or extension plans that would allow you to alter the terms of your mortgage to account for the forborne payments.*

*Available options may vary depending on investor guidelines and additional eligibility requirements and documentation may be required for these options. For example, the Partial Claim noted above is only available to FHA-insured loans. Please check back as we are monitoring investor guideline changes to ensure we are considering all available options for your loan.

Got Questions?

If you have additional questions about your options under the CARES Act, please call us.

What’s Next? Logon to our website to complete the assistance request form.

If you are not currently on a forbearance plan and would like to be considered because you have been impacted financially, please login to our website to begin the process.  There you will find an alert that leads you to a form to apply for assistance.  Within 7 to 10 business days, you will receive a letter from us with all the details. We will also send you an email if we have your email address on file. We will then reach out about 30 days before the forbearance period is scheduled to end to determine the best plan in light of your circumstances.

Please understand we are experiencing very heavy call volumes and wait times as we work with all those facing financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic, and we apologize for any delays.

The quickest way for us to assist you is by logging in and submitting the form. We sincerely thank you for your patience. Please stay well and stay safe.

If you have forbearance questions and would like to speak to a certified housing counselor, please call the Hope Hotline at 995Hope.org

CLICK HERE for 995Hope.org

Please ask questions or report your experience with this servicer below. Your feedback will help other homeowners navigate homeownership preservation options. REMEMBER: Ask for everything in writing to protect yourself against surprises.

12 Comments

  1. Kara Hancock on June 26, 2020 at 3:24 am

    My name isKara Hancock. I’m trying to get some information about taking out a equity loan to pay for my estimate of a new house and a deposit for the new house. I need to know if that’s possible with a forebearance agreement. I started my forbearance almost 2 months ago. I plan on paying the money back as soon as my house is sold. I need to know if there’s anyway to get a continued forebearance until it is sold? It shouldn’t take to terribly long. The houses in my neighborhood go quickly. Please let me know my options please. Thank you

    • Forbearance Report on June 26, 2020 at 4:33 pm

      Hi Kara, you would not be eligible to qualify for an equity loan while your loan is in forbearance. At least that’s not an option right now. The most recent updates are for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional, and FHA loans.

      You would be unable to qualify for an FHA loan until the skipped payments are paid in full.
      You would be able to qualify for a conventional loan once you’ve reinstated the loan (either paid in full or made payment arrangements) AND you’ve made 3 consecutive, on-time payments after the reinstatement.

      My advice to you would be to discuss the possibility of the seller carrying the note until you sell your home. Another option would be to talk to a local bank or credit union about your situation. It would take someone choosing to take a significant risk to lend to you while you’re delinquent on your current mortgage.

      Also, keep in mind that this isn’t your fault, but the fact that you were unable to make your payments as recently as the last 90 days is going to be a concern for any new lender that you’re talking to.

      I hope this helps?

  2. Peter Glickman on September 9, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    Has anyone had any luck getting through on the phone to Cenlar these days? I just need to CANCEL my forebearance, since it is no longer needed and I am applying for financing on a new place, and this is apparently impossible on the website. Sent a message 10 days ago with no reply. Several hours-long holds on phone never connecting. No online chat function now. Anybody know how I can contact someone to perform this simple very important task?? If so pls reply! Tx!

  3. Kofi Anafi on April 15, 2021 at 11:21 pm

    Hi – would anyone have any information on this situation:

    We are in the process of requesting a 2nd forbearance. The 1st one was for 6 months, then our financial hardship improved at that time and we resumed payments (we were approved for deferment). However I have now been laid off and we need to request another forbearance. Once the 6 months forbearance period if over (for the 2nd forbearance) and CENLAR is saying we would not be eligible for another deferment (only 1 deferment per life of loan) and we would need to apply for a modification. The question is if we do the modification would we be able to refinance our house in the future, and does anyone have any details on modifications i.e., terms, adjustable interest rates, variable interest rates, etc.?

    • Forbearance Report on April 16, 2021 at 2:41 pm

      Hi Kofi, a modification will not prevent you from refinancing in the future. If you defer part of the loan (skipped payments move to end of loan) it may be required that be paid back with a refinance or sale of the home. There may also be a waiting period before you are eligible to refinance depending on the terms of the modification. Hope this helps?

  4. Jim Brown on April 26, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    Hello – I started the forbearance Dec 2020 and am approaching my 6 month date. I have been able to make small payments on the mortgage while paying larger chunks on higher interest loans. This has helped me reduce overall debt. My thoughts are to continue the forbearance and use that money toward other debt as possible. However I am concerned with racking up $12k-$15k in past due amount. Cenlar has told me they only offer 6 month repayment with half down or go through the VA streamline. They said I can work with the VA on other repayment options (end of loan or longer payback period) but made it sound like a bigger effort.

    My current int rate is 4.25 with about 200k and 20 years left on the loan. I am trying to think through my options and it seems I will be streamlining either next month or in 6 months. I don’t want to have to go streamline with out at least 1% int rate deduction. Can I check with other lenders to see what kind of rate they offer? Just not sure how committed they will be due to the forbearance.

    Any input is appreciated.

  5. Will on May 11, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    I came here from https://findmywayhome.com/veterans/va-irrrl-guidelines-after-cares-act-forbearance/
    Even though the article says you can do an irrrl VA loan under forbearance, I can’t find any lenders that will do it, they are following the old rules or following the FHA rules. Are there any lenders actually following the VA guidelines?

    • Forbearance Report on May 12, 2021 at 2:31 am

      Hi Will, the loan officers you are talking to either do not know the guidelines, or they work for a lender that has chosen to not follow the guidelines. Shoot me an email to scott@findmywayhome.com and let me know what State you’re in. I can introduce you to someone that I know and trust that can help.

  6. JIMMY MC on May 24, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    I recently did the forbearance program through CENLAR, under the impression at least that this was the cares act. After 3 months I started paying my normal amount again and asked to be taken off forbearance status. At this time I was given 3 options, pay amount in full, a repayment plan the same length of missed payments (so double payments for the next 3 months) or differ payments and modify the loan term to accommodate. I was told I had 14 days to decide. The last being the best option for me. They set me up with 3 trial payments which were slightly increased as they raised my interest rate from 2.9% to 3.25%. I was told this was temporary though the trial period. 4 monthly payments have now been made, one before the trail and 3 trail payments and now I am being told I need to sign the loan modification papers within 14 days or pay lump sum. The modification is still at the 3.25% interest which will end up costing me an additional 30 grand though out the loan. From what I have read on the CARES act a lump sum payment, increased interest, penalties or fees can not be applied to the loan. Am I missing something here? Any advice is greatly appreciated as CENLAR has been very vague in response.

  7. Jimena on July 21, 2021 at 2:30 am

    I received a 30-day late notice on my credit while applying for Forbearance.
    Cenlar turned off autopay while I was waiting to be approved, I called to cancel the Forbearance process because I wasn’t going to need it anymore and after a few days trying to get someone to help me on their terrible customer line, someone told me I hadn’t been granted the Forbearance and had 30 day-late payments because my autopay was off.
    What can I do?

  8. Jennifer on February 23, 2022 at 1:42 am

    Does anyone know what documentation Cenlar’s underwriting department requires at the end of the forbearance. Im hoping I get a deferment option that requires payment at the end of the loan. But im worried about what additional documentation Cenlar might request. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

  9. Jeannette on June 14, 2022 at 11:20 pm

    Hi Jeannette we were given a forebearance and we’re told that after the financial hardship ended the missed payments would go to the back of the loan. My name is only on the loan. My husband contributes his entire paycheck into the household. They denied me deferral, repayment and modification based solely on my SSDI. They say they want borrowers to keep there homes but not in my case. I heard that I was ineligible when I called to check status I heard it from the computer voice. I wrote and faxed a letter for appeal bc my husband’s monetary contributions were excluded. Anyone else have similar problems?

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