dhollier@imfpubs.com

In a sign that there’s still no end in sight to the coronavirus national emergency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Department of Housing and Urban Development late this week extended the foreclosure moratoriums on their charges from Aug. 31 to yearend.

The edict, which applies to single-family homes and real estate-owned evictions, affects loans backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. (VA also extended its moratorium.)

In the case of the GSEs, multifamily loans are not covered by the extension. In addition, the moratorium on REO evictions only applies to properties that have been acquired by Fannie or Freddie through either foreclosures or deeds-in-lieu transactions.

The FHFA said the extension is part of its ongoing efforts to keep borrowers in their homes through the pandemic. According to agency Director Mark Calabria, pushing existing protections through the end of the year “protects more than 28 million homeowners with an enterprise-backed mortgage.”

For Fannie and Freddie, the extension carries a cost. Earlier this week, the FHFA alluded to this when it announced the GSEs would continue to charge lenders a 500- to 700-basis-point fee to sell them loans that have already gone into forbearance. The agency said the fees are intended to offset costs associated with COVID-19.

The FHFA now projects those expenses to climb as high as $1.7 billion.