FHFA announces extension of multifamily COVID-related mortgage relief

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is providing an additional three months of forbearance to multifamily borrowers with loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The move pushed the expiration date to June 30 from March 31, giving borrowers a running total of 18 months of coronavirus-related relief. It also aligns with the agency’s latest single-family policy it announced the week prior and the Biden administration’s extension on mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Agriculture in mid-February.

However, qualifying is subject to property owners continuing the FHFA-imposed tenant protections. These include the property owner providing written communication about the available tenant protections and halting evictions for missed rent payments. During the repayment period, owners must give at least 30-day vacate notices, can’t charge late fees, and must allow tenants a flexible repayment schedule.

“COVID-19 continues to financially impact Americans across the country, thereby hindering many tenants' ability to pay their rent,” FHFA Director Mark Calabria said in a press release. “To help tenants in financial distress and property owners, FHFA is extending the multifamily COVID-19 forbearance and tenant protections through the end of June 2021."

The original CARES Act provided borrowers with the ability to request up to 12 months of forbearance, split into two 180-day periods if they faced financial hardship from the pandemic.

As of the end of 2020, Fannie Mae had a 60+ day multifamily delinquency rate of 0.98% while Freddie Mac — which excludes loans receiving payment forbearance as delinquent — had 0.16%, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association report from March 4.