When it became clear to Jeff Brown that the coronavirus pandemic was going to force him to change the way he operated his Wireless Zone in Peterborough, he started to do the math.
And when he decided to shift his store to appointment only, Brown knew that without an income coming in it would not be easy to pay his two mortgages – for his house in Hancock and the automotive garage space he owns in Peterborough.
“The first thing I did when this all started was I called my mortgage companies and asked about options,” Brown said. “I could see right away that life was changing very quickly.”
What he found was an easy process that has allowed him to forgo paying principal and interest for 60 days.
“To me it just made sense because I have no income,” Brown said. “I’ve never missed a payment and I wanted to be prepared.”
All that remained was the escrow payment – taxes and insurance – as his bill for two months. He also said there’s a chance he could look into extending it depending on how long things stay in the current capacity.
“I was happy to just pay the escrow,” Brown said.
With other expenses that had to be paid, Brown started to figure out where he might be able to ask for some relief.
“It was a question of how am I going to do this?” Brown said. “This is unchartered waters. No one in the world can say they’ve been through this before.”
And Brown has some simple advice for people who may be in a similar situation.
“Just call your bank,” he said. “We’ve all got to do whatever we can. Everyone’s got to work together.”
As people spend more time out of work and delays in unemployment benefits continue to mount, being able to pay the mortgage is becoming increasingly more difficult for some.
Dianne Mercier, NH Market President at People’s United Bank, said the thing that home and property owners need to know is that mortgage lenders are there to provide ways to navigate this time.
“Most banks have been extremely accommodating when they know you’ve been put out of work,” Mercier said.
Having consumers get behind on payments and in risk of foreclosure doesn’t help either the financial institution or the property owner.
“The preference is for you to have the ability to pay your loan and stay in your home,” Mercier said.
For those finding it might be hard to make a payment, the first thing to do is contact their lender, said Joe Schmitt, Chief Marketing Officer at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust with a location in Peterborough.
“If a consumer believes they are going to have an issue making payments due to COVID-19 they should reach out to the bank that services their mortgage before they miss a payment,” Schmitt said.
The earlier the contact is made with the mortgage lender, the easier it will be to find an option that will allow the loan to stay current. The first option and the one that makes the most sense for people struggling to have the funds to pay would be to defer payments by 30 to 90 days.
“There are a lot of options and we are here to assist consumers with a customized solution that will help meet their needs. We don’t believe that there is a one size fits all solution. Consumers are best served to contact their bank and discuss,” Schmitt said.
But for those not affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic, Mercier said it is a time where people are looking to take advantage of low interest rates to refinance and purchase property.
“This is a great economic setback for us, but it’s not a great economic setback for 100 percent of us,” Mercier said. “There is still economic activity going on. We’re just trying to figure out how to help that 40 percent without a safety net.”
While interest rates are low, right around 3 percent as of Thursday, Mercier said that isn’t something that’s directly related to COVID-19.
“Relatively speaking, they’ve been low for 10 years,” she said.