US President Joe Biden has extended a ban on housing foreclosures to 30th June in order to help homeowners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic. The moratorium on foreclosures of federally guaranteed mortgages had been set to expire on 31st March. Point to be noted that Biden had extended the moratorium from 31st Jan on his first day in office. Census Bureau figures have indicated that almost 12% of homeowners with mortgages were late on their payments. On Tuesday, the White House announced the coordinated actions by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Agriculture will also extend to 30th June the enrollment window for borrowers who want to request mortgage payment forbearance (a pause or reduction in payments) and will provide up to 6 additional months of forbearance for borrowers who entered forbearance on or before 30th June 2020.
The White House officials also said that at least 10 million homeowners are behind on mortgage payments and Biden’s actions are to help keep people in their homes during a housing affordability crisis triggered by the deadly pandemic. It also said the homeowners will receive urgently needed relief as we face this unprecedented national emergency. Biden’s administration has confirmed that extending forbearance policies will provide critical support to homeowners of color, who make up a disproportionate share of borrowers having trouble paying their loans because of hardships related to the pandemic. The actions announced Tuesday don’t address a federal moratorium through 31st March on evictions of tenants.
It is noteworthy that the Press Secretary of White House, Jen Psaki also declined to indicate whether President Joe Biden supported criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and others involved in the Capitol insurrection. On Tuesday, she delivered his words during a press briefing and said, “We’re doing something new here, and there is going to be an independent Justice Department”. Psaki added that President Biden supported the creation of a 9/11-style commission to look into the Capitol insurrection, but would not say whether the White House had a position on any specific charges. Trump was found to have at least 3,400 conflicts of interest in research conducted by the ethics nonprofit CREW. It says Trump routinely pressured and fired officials throughout the Justice Department and other federal agencies who failed to comply with his demands.