Assistance for Unemployed Borrowers

Pro­gram Details:

For­bear­ance Plan Eligibility

A bor­rower must meet the Home Afford­able Mod­i­fi­ca­tion Pro­gram (HAMP) eli­gi­bil­ity cri­te­ria as well as:  

• be unem­ployed when request is made;
• be enti­tled to receive unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits in the month of the UP for­bear­ance plan effec­tive date (ser­vicers have dis­cre­tion to require a bor­rower to have received unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits for up to three months before com­mence­ment of the for­bear­ance plan); and
• request an UP for­bear­ance plan before they become seri­ously delin­quent (i.e., miss three monthly mort­gage payments).  

For­bear­ance Plan Eval­u­a­tion 

 Ser­vicers must fol­low these require­ments when eval­u­at­ing a bor­rower for an UP for­bear­ance plan:  

• Unem­ployed bor­row­ers who request assis­tance for HAMP must first be eval­u­ated for an UP
  for­bear­ance plan. If they qual­ify, they must be offered an UP for­bear­ance plan before they can be con­sid­ered for HAMP.
• Bor­row­ers cur­rently in a HAMP trial period plan who become unem­ployed may receive an UP
  for­bear­ance plan if they have missed less than three monthly pay­ments as of the first pay­ment due date of the HAMP trial period plan. If they do qual­ify, their exist­ing HAMP trial period plan must be can­celled and the UP for­bear­ance plan must imme­di­ately begin with­out wait­ing until the bor­rower has received three months of unem­ploy­ment benefits.
• Bor­row­ers pre­vi­ously deter­mined to be inel­i­gi­ble for a HAMP mod­i­fi­ca­tion may request an UP
  for­bear­ance plan if they meet the eli­gi­bil­ity requirements.
• Bor­row­ers in a per­ma­nent HAMP mod­i­fi­ca­tion who become unem­ployed are not eli­gi­ble for an UP for­bear­ance plan.

For­bear­ance Plan Terms

• Term must be three months or upon reem­ploy­ment (whichever is less). Ser­vicers may extend this period accord­ing to their investor/regulatory guidelines.
• Monthly mort­gage pay­ment must be reduced to less than or equal to 31% of the borrower’s gross
  monthly house­hold income and may be sus­pended in full.

Tran­si­tion to HAMP 

Bor­row­ers in an UP for­bear­ance plan will be eval­u­ated for HAMP at either reem­ploy­ment or 30 days prior to the UP for­bear­ance period expir­ing (whichever hap­pens first).

Read the com­plete HAMP doc­u­ment. 

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