On December 21, 2020, the Oregon Legislature passed HB 4401, further extending the moratorium on residential evictions without cause and for nonpayment of rent from December 31, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The law also extends the term for the payment of accumulated rents under residential leases before September 30, 2020, from March 31, 2021, to June 30, 2021.
HB 4401 requires landlords to provide tenants with a copy of a “Notice to Protect Against Eviction.” Tenants who receive the notice must sign and return it to the landlord stating that they have experienced specific financial hardship. Tenants who do not return the notice cannot take advantage of the extensions provided by HB 4401. However, if the landlord does not provide the notice, the tenant can take advantage of the extensions without completing the declaration.
In addition to the extension, HB 4401 creates a fund to compensate residential landlords for 80 percent of the uncollected rent from qualified tenants after April 1, 2020. Landlords must submit an application and Eviction Protection Notices signed for the Qualified Tenants to access these funds. Landlords must also agree to forgive the remaining 20 percent of the unpaid rent accrued between April 1, 2020, and the current date of the application.
In other similar actions, the Multnomah Board of commissioners has voted to extend the county eviction moratorium to July second, 2021. Commissioners reinforced the idea that increasing homelessness could also increase COVID-19.
“Multnomah county will do whatever is needed to protect the health of people,” a County official announced.
Nationwide 40% of rental units are owned by individual investors rather than companies, and about 30% of landlord households have low to moderate incomes of fewer than 90,000 dollars. Cities and states across the country are piecemealing rental assistance programs that primarily focus on helping tenants, not landlords.
Eviction bans have been in place in Oregon since the early days of COVID-19 and have taken different forms. Multnomah County was the first government to pass a residential eviction moratorium on March 19. The governor did the same with a state policy three days later.
Taking the recent extension into account, the statewide moratorium would stretch fewer than sixteen months, but landlords say it will take longer to evict tenants who have not paid rent. Landlords in Oregon cannot apply late rent fees or sue for back rent. They believe renters are technically in the hood for all money they owe, and landlords are unlikely to see that money, they say. Affected landlords would like to see governments help them in the future.
A Relief To Landlords.
Many Oregonians can rest a little bit easier after lawmakers pass a bill extending the statewide eviction ban until July 1, 2021. The Bill provides $ 200 million in rental assistance and creates a fund for landlords whose tenants have been unable to pay their rent due to financial hardship caused by COVID-19. The problem, however, is that to qualify for help, landlords must agree to forgive 20% of the tenant’s overdue rent.
Oregon small landlords understand that the eviction moratorium law keeps people safe. It is important to prevent the virus from spreading just as important that people also have a place to live, but landlords feel they are paying the highest price. Small landlords have operation expenses like taxes, maintenance, homeowner’s association fees, mortgage, legal, and accounting assistance fees. However, they are not collecting a penny from their housing investments.
Bill HB4401 sets aside $ 150 million for landlords to top up to cover back rent and 50 million in financial aid for tenants to avoid falling further behind on monthly payments. Bill requires landlords to forgive 20% of back rent out of pocket.
It is the first time since the pandemic breakout that Oregon legislators have considered the small landlord’s suffering. Although the aid provided to landlords to assist them with collecting unpaid past due rent that a landlord-applicant has not collected after April 112020 from qualified tenants. The grant comes with several restrictions.
Starting next month, the state will reimburse willing landlords for up to 80% of their owed for backed rent. If landlords agree with this offer, they must take it and forgive the rest of the debt their tenants owe. For a lot of landlords, these state measures are not enough. A group sued the state of Oregon on Multnomah County, claiming the eviction bans violate the US constitution and arguing that if officials let tenants not pay, the government should cover all the debts owed.
Other landlords willing to accept the offer think that 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing.
Better Off Home Buyers have been speaking with some landlords who have not received rent for several months. These landlords have manifested their frustration, stating that their tenants can pay rent, just they are taking advantage of the system to stop payments and claim a hard situation related to COVID-19.
The Foreclosure Moratorium.
During the special session on Monday, December 21, the Oregon state legislators did not discuss the foreclosure moratorium set to expire on December 31, 2020. In the meantime, there are still some federal protections in place. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “For federally backed loans, your lender or loan servicer may not file foreclosure on you until after February 28, 2021.”
For loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, they may not want to foreclose on you until after January 31, 2021.
Landlords with no federally-backed mortgage loans are in the first line to foreclosure. Neither Federal nor State governments have pronounced themselves about conventional home loans. There are no regulations to help conventional borrowers from losing their properties. Single-family conventional loan holders face the same fate.
With the eviction moratorium in place, homeowners with an unsupported mortgage will lose their properties to foreclosure. It may sound not nice to say so, but conventional loan holders are at the mercy of their lenders. Many lenders love this situation because they know they can profit largely from the pain of desperate homeowners.
Welcome, 2021.
The Real estate gurus in Oregon and across the nation have been predicting a massive real estate crash in 2021. Some of them have forecasted the market fall by June next year. However, looking at the factors involved in the actual real estate situation. I dare to say that the real estate market crisis is already in progress.
No one imagined the crisis triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic. But it is real. In the housing market, we have,
- House inventory in Portland is at its record low.
- Mortgage rates have hit their low record several times this year.
- Housing prices have gone up more than 15% since the pandemic breakout.
- Mortgage forbearances are ticking upwards.
- More tenants are falling behind on their payments.
- Experts are predicting a wave of foreclosures.
If you are planning to sell your house, the prediction of higher home prices is really good news. The monthly supply of inventory during COVID-19 is not enough to satisfy the market demand, which results in higher home prices. The combination of low inventory plus low-interest rates also contributes to sky home prices.
House sales numbers dropped in 2020 because people fear being contagious. No one wants to have contact with strangers.
The pandemic has beaten the economy hard, and retail, entertainment, and hospitality industries are suffering the worst hits. Low and middle-income homeowners on layoff or furloughed are at risk of foreclosure. According to the FHA, the reason for 86% of mortgage delinquencies was “a national emergency,” a category that includes the pandemic.
Also, mortgage forbearance numbers are significantly increasing. According to the Black Knight report, as of December 8, 2.7 million mortgages, or about 5.2% of all residential properties with a mortgage, were in active forbearance.
Portland and major cities in the US are implementing more restrictions to combat the pandemic. This is good for people’s health but damages the economy.
If the government does not come out with a stimulus package to ease the crisis, more homeowners and small landlords will be on the brink of disaster in just a few months.
Selling Your Mortgage Forbearance House.
You can still sell your house if you have your home loan in forbearance. It is possible to sell your home during this time, even if you are not making payments. However, there are rules and regulations. Immediately upon sale, you must pay the full unpaid amount.
Forbearance provides an opportunity to correct financial hardship. It is an option for homeowners in various circumstances, including those with investment properties.
As the pandemic reaches the ninth month whipping our country, the available homes for sale in the Portland real estate market are in dramatically low numbers. The statistics show the same phenomenon in Oregon and across the nation. Interest rates are historically low, but house demand is still high—ingredients for the perfect hot market recipe. However, the low number of houses available for sale will continue because people won’t take the risk of getting contagious by the virus.
Mortgage Forbearance plans are a temporary lifesaver, but when it gets to their end, homeowners should have to retake monthly mortgage payments plus the unpaid balances. Many homeowners, tenants, and small landlords have lost their jobs or seen a substantial income reduction. When the mortgage forbearance plans get to an end, people who are financially struggling cannot meet their mortgage obligations and necessary, will face foreclosure.
Because of the circumstances generated by the pandemic, home prices have increased by over 15% between July and December 2020. As an effect of this, home equity is about 35% of the actual market selling price. Paradoxically, many people are living in a high home price house, but they can not afford monthly mortgage payments.
Mortgage forbearance helps people to avoid foreclosure, but be careful, and it could be a tramp. Depredator lenders are begging people to sign for forbearance and are praying that they will not be able to pay the mortgage after the relief plan ends because they want to foreclose the property, resale it, and profit from the borrower’s pain.
Don’t let banks and lenders profit from your house. Avoid foreclosure by selling your house, taking your home equity money, and getting another property using the low-income rates in today’s financial market.
Better Off Home Buyers helps you by buying your house. If you can’t make your monthly payments, you probably don’t have the money to spend to sell your property. Nor do you not have the time to wait for your house to be sold if you hire a real estate agent. Selling a house through a real estate agent implicates major o minor home repairs, sale commissions, closing costs, taxes, and unforeseen expenses.
If you sell your house to Better Off Home Buyers, you don’t need to spend any money from your pocket; you don’t need to wait weeks or months to sell your house. You don’t need to receive strangers in your house and risk getting infected.
During this unfortunate time, we have been able to help homeowners and Landlords to alleviate their financial load by buying their properties. Contact us we will help you as we have helped hundreds of struggling homeowners throughout the years by buying their houses.
Please fill out the form on this page or dial our phone number directly.
Selling Your Tenant-Occupied Rental House.
The pandemic doesn’t discriminate. Still, over 10 million people are unemployed today and unable to pay rent. Small landlords are facing an unusual situation. They can not evict tenants or take control of their rental properties. Federal and local authorities have extended the eviction moratorium up to June 2021, hammering the last nail in the coffin of landlords who are experiencing the epidemic whipping.
Under these circumstances selling a rental house with tenants is the way out of future and bigger problems. We offer cash for your tenant-occupied house. Our buying process is the same for any property. It doesn’t matter what the house’s conditions are; we will purchase it. We close a house purchase in 7 days.
Take Advantage Of Your Home Equity.
Taking advance of your home equity is not the only benefit you get when you sell your house. Selling after months in a mortgage forbearance plan doesn’t hurt your credit. It is important to have a good credit score to qualify for a financial product.
Experts were predicting a real estate market crash in 2021. Everything indicates that a hard economic situation will hit the USA at the end of the year. The pandemic may be controlled, but the economy will not recover simultaneously. Many industries and people will be given the steps to get back on track, but that will not be enough. Without the mortgage forbearance plans and restrictions lifted, still, the economy will be stumbling.
Homeowners are taking advantage of their home equity now. They are using their capital gains to reimburse another single-family house. They can get an affordable home loan with low-interest rates and an acceptable credit score.
Please, contact us for more information about our home-buying process. If you need to sell your house, we can help you.