"Moving the missed payment to the end of the note," update.

Borrowers with an FHA mortgage who face a hardship and get behind on their house payments, may be eligible for a workout called a "partial claim."  The way the homeowner thinks about it and the way the mortgage company my describe it is that the missed payments were "moved to the end of the note."  In reality what happens is that the mortgage company files a claim against the FHA mortgage insurance and  FHA makes a loan to the borrower to catch up the missed payments.  No interest is charged on the loan and no payments are required.  The loan does not become due until the first mortgage is paid off. If the homeowners income is insufficient to resume making the regular payment, the partial claim may be combined with a modification that results in a lower payment.

As a housing counselor I sometime encounter people who have already had one partial claim and then experienced a new hardship and got behind again.  At one time, the amount of partial claim available was only 12 months of payments. Now the program is more generous.  Here is the way to calculate the amount of partial claim available as described in MORTGAGEE LETTER 2016-14:

Partial Claim : The total amount available is the lesser of: ( 1) the unpaid principal balance as of the date of Default associated with the initial Partial Claim , if applicable , multiplied by 30%, less any previous Partial Claim (s) paid on this Mortgage; (2) if no previous Partial Claim(s), the unpaid principal balance as of the date of the current Default multiplied by 30%; or (3) the total amount required to meet the Target Payment. The Partial Claim amount may include: arrearages; legal fees and foreclosure costs related to a canceled foreclosure action; and principal deferment ...

Assume a homeowner is ten months past due and assume the monthly payment is only $508 a month but with legal expenses and other foreclosure cost it would take $7750  to reinstate the loan. Also assume the homeowner had had a previous partial claim of $3000. Assume the amount of the principle balance at the date of default the first time they got a partial claim was $56,000. To calculate if this homeowner would be eligible for a partial claim one would do this calculation: $56,000 x 30% = $16,800, the total amount available for a partial claim. $16,800 - the amount of the first partial claim of $3000= $13,800, the amount of partial claim still available. Since the homeowners current amount needed is reinstate the loan is $7750, the homeowner should be eligible for a partial claim assuming they meet the other requirements.

Don't worry about knowing how to do this, that's my job.  If you are in default on your mortgage, there may be other solutions also.  If you live in the middle Tennessee area and are in default or are having trouble making your house payment, call me for a free consultation. Rod Williams 615-850-3453.