- If you can’t pay your mortgage
- If you are facing financial stress right now, get in touch with your lender. Most lenders are offering the option to defer payments during the pandemic. This will allow you to skip payments for a certain amount of time, typically tacking them on to the end of your mortgage. So if you got a 20 year mortgage and deferred three months of payments, your loan would now be 30 years plus three months. If you defer a payment or two, you should still be fine in terms of taxes, insurance, and credit scores.
- Lenders are mostly making this decision on a case-by-case basis, so call as soon as you can.
- This should only be done if you absolutely cannot pay your mortgage.
- If you are out of work
- Maryland expanded unemployment insurance coverage by allowing employees to apply for coverage even if they haven’t separated from their employer in cases when a worker’s job has been closed or they have to be quarantined.
- If you have student loans
- Federal student loan interest has dropped to 0% for at least 60 days in response to the current economic landscape. That won’t lower your payments, but it will help you pay off loans faster. If that’s not enough, you can contact your loan provider and request a pause on your payments. Also interest-free.
- If you need help with credit card payments
- Most credit card companies are allowing people to delay upcoming payments on a case by case basis, so give them a call. It never hurts to ask.
- As long as your credit card company lets the big credit bureau know that you are on a special program your credit score won’t be negatively impacted. Both FICO and VantageScore have publicly stated that people in forbearance or deferred payment plans will not see their credit scores suffer as a result.
Need A Little Extra Help Right Now? Here are some places to find it.
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Kyle Barber
Kyle is passionate writer, independant thinker, and digital savvy lady with a deep love of marketing and all the challenges it presents.
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