COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Frequently Asked Questions

If you’re experiencing a financial hardship due to COVID-19 you may be able to temporarily suspend payments with a forbearance plan. Submit information about your hardship here .

A forbearance plan is an agreement that allows a homeowner experiencing a temporary hardship to make a reduced payment or no payment at all during the plan’s term. Prior to the end of the forbearance plan, we will contact you to discuss your situation and provide information on options that may be available to you to bring your loan current.

Submit information about your hardship here We will need basic information about your loan and your COVID-19 related hardship.

Eligibility for the forbearance is limited to borrowers who have experienced a hardship resulting from COVID-19, such as job loss, a reduction in work hours, reduced income, illness or other issues which has impacted their ability to make their mortgage payments.

Fremont Bank will furnish your information to the credit reporting agencies in a manner that is compliant with the CARES Act reporting guidelines. This means that Fremont Bank will not report your loan as past due (30 late, 60 late, 90 late, etc.) to the credit agencies during the agreed upon period of the forbearance plan. We do not know what the future impact may or may not be to your credit score or credit worthiness.

If your loan is currently escrowed for taxes and insurance, we will continue to make payments for required property taxes and insurance premiums from your escrow account during the payment suspension period. Since your escrow account is not receiving ongoing funds during the payment suspension period this may result in a shortage in your escrow account that will require repayment.

There is no fee for a temporary forbearance plan and we will not charge late fees during the forbearance period.

Foreclosure relief scams: Please be aware of potential loan modification scams to take your money by making false promises to help homeowners struggling with payments saving them from foreclosure.

Yes, your billing statement will reflect your balance and payments missed during your forbearance plan as past-due. As a reminder, we are not reporting payments as delinquent to the credit agencies during the forbearance period and you are not being charged late fees.

You can cancel automatic loan payments up to three business days prior to the draft date from online banking. We will cancel automatic loan payments upon set-up of the forbearance plan. Once your forbearance plan ends, you will need to set-up automatic payments from online banking or contact us at (877) 693-6898 Monday – Friday 8:00am – 6:00pm PT, Saturday 9:00am – 1:00pm PT if you wish to resume automatic loan payments.

Yes, we recommend contacting your financial institution that maintains your bill pay to cancel scheduled payments if you would like to temporarily suspend your payments with a forbearance plan.

Your ability to refinance may be impacted during the forbearance plan term. Upon completion of your forbearance you may be able to qualify for a refinance once your payments are brought current or you are performing on a repayment program, and you are otherwise qualified for the loan.

Yes, you can. If at all possible, you should consider making payments during your forbearance to reduce the amount due at the end of your forbearance period.

No, the ability to make advances will be suspended during the term of your forbearance plan and you will not have access to the funds.

Yes, payments that were not made during the forbearance plan will need to be made up but there are options available to help you. Our goal is to work with you to find a solution that best meets your current needs. The following options may be available depending on your hardship status.

See more information about options and update your hardship status at COVID-19 Mortgage Relief

• Repayment Plan – Repay the payments missed during your forbearance plan over a period of time of up to 12 months.
• Reinstatement – Repay the payments missed during your forbearance plan in a single lump sum.
• Payment Deferral – Defer the payments missed during your forbearance plan until maturity of the loan or earlier upon sale or transfer of the property, refinance of the loan, or payoff.
• Forbearance Extension – Extend suspension of payments for a specified period of time.
• Loan Modification * – Typically changes terms of the original agreement in order to affect a permanent solution.
  * Modification terms are dependent on the programs available by your specific investor. Not all modification programs are the same, the description above is a typical outcome but not guaranteed.

Visit COVID-19 Mortgage Relief to update your hardship status and to review the post forbearance options available to you.

The impact to credit for the post forbearance repayment options is dependent on the option utilized and your overall credit performance. Fremont Bank will furnish your information to the credit reporting agencies in a manner that is in compliance with the CARES Act reporting guidelines and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We do not know what the future impact may or may not be to your credit score or credit worthiness.

Your ability to refinance may be impacted during the forbearance plan term. Upon completion of your forbearance you may be able to qualify for a refinance once your payments are brought current or you are performing on a repayment program, and you are otherwise qualified for the loan.

If Fremont Bank advanced funds for your escrow account you will need to repay the amounts we advanced on your behalf and we may require adjustments to your monthly escrow payments to cover any escrow account shortages for future payments. Visit COVID-19 Mortgage Relief to update your hardship status and we will review your escrow account balance and repayment options (if applicable).

Once the reason for the suspension no longer exists, you can request that we reinstate your line of credit if you have completed the forbearance plan, a repayment option, and your loan is current.