The legislators of southern California who represented the areas of Firefighters Eaton and Palisades presented a bill in Congress on Thursday that would give the owners affected by natural disasters throughout the country a break in the mortgage payments for almost a year.
The bill, presented by US representatives. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) and Brad Sherman (Oaks D-Sherman), would require the lenders to grant a six-month pause on the mortgage payments for housing owners who could document evidence of damage or destruction to their properties. Payments would stop interest, sanctions or rates, but they would not be forgiven.
That pause, known as mortgage tolerance, would apply only to loans backed by the federal government in areas where the president has signed a federal disaster statement, said Chu, who represents Altadena. The borrowers could extend the patience for another six months if necessary, extending the life of the loan.
“Lost lost their home, their whole life, they live with friends or live in a hotel, they are still working with their insurance company to cover that hotel’s bill, or are requesting FEMA, and now the mortgage is due to Tous” “Palisades and Malibu.” So it’s like paying runs or a mortgage twice. Some of them find it quite difficult. “
The law does not require non -federal lenders to sacrifice to housing owners in disaster areas, although they often do so. Chu’s office said the bill would standardize tolerance policies for federal lenders.
After the January fires, which Dich destroyed more than 13,500 buildings in Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu, More than 400 lenders He offered homes a 90 -day pause about the mortgage payments without informing lost payments to credit agencies.
The people who survived the fire, Chu said, should not have to worry about losing the payment of a mortgage while worrying about dealing with so many other things. ”
The bill has another 11 copatrocinadores, all Democrats, including representatives of southern California, Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Jimmy Gómez (D-Los Angeles), Linda Sánchez (D-Whittier) and Lourea (D-Santa Ana), as several representatives of the own states, including the representative of Hawaii. Jill Tokuda.
No republican legislator has been signed as original copatrocinators, but Chu and Sherman said they expect the bill to receive bipartisan support.
“This is the smallest they can do,” said Sherman. “This is virtual without cost to anyone.”
Chu said the bill was partially inspired by a story that he read in the reports of Pasadena Star-New that up to 3,200 survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires Lost mortgage payments After the January fires.
The story cited An insurance company report That found that the mortgage payments on time in the Palisades fire area fell 23.9% from December to February and 16.7% in the Fire Eaton area. Payments on time rose 0.2% throughout the state during the same period.
Chu said the Disaster Bill is structured after the mortgage tolerance clause included in the Cares Law, the draft Economic Stimulus Law of Pandemic of $ 2 Strillones approved by Congress with Bipartisan support And was signed by President Trump in March 2020.
Law Cares required that lenders subsidize the monthly mortgage payments for 180 days, with a possible extension of another 180 days.
Last month, Chu and Sherman also requested the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the giant Mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to allow mortgage lenders to grant issues of up to two years, in six months.
The current one -year limit, legislators wrote: “It does not take into account the prolonged interruptions faced by owners after a disaster of this magnitude. Allowing a longer period with Ferwer administrative obstacles that help
