By: Ashmar Mandou
On Wednesday, the City of Chicago joined the Department of Housing (DOH) Commissioner Marisa Novara and Chicago’s housing lenders and landlord associations to announce the Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge, an effort to provide relief to struggling tenants and building owners negatively impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The pledge upholds lenders and landlords may offer eligible renters and mortgage holders deferred payment agreements and other financial relief in response to the economic fallout of COVID-19 and continuing after the pandemic.
“Our bold, data-driven response to the COVID-19 virus has already yielded important gains to our public health, but it has also come with additional costs that are being borne out by those least able to afford them,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “The Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge represents our city’s shared commitment to our residents and building owners alike whose homes and livelihoods have come under threat as a result of this crisis.”
The leaders of Chicago’s mortgage lenders, landlords, and tenant groups who joined the Mayor for this announcement included David Casper of BMO Harris Bank, Rudy Medina of Second Federal Credit Union, Paul Lambert of Bank of America, Mark Hoppe of Fifth Third, Scott Swanson of PNC Bank, Michael Mini of the Chicagoland Apartment Association (CAA), Michael Glasser of Neighborhood Building Owner’s Alliance (NBOA), and Mark Swartz, executive director of LCBH. Each pledged to work with homeowners and renters to prevent displacement and foreclosure.
“The Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge is about compassion and flexibility,” said Commissioner Novara. “It’s about everyone doing their part. We are asking landlords to work out flexible payment plans with tenants, and to do so, they need flexibility from their lenders. Tenants who have lost work, communicate with your building owner and try to work out a plan and tenants who have not lost work, support those who have by paying your rent. Working together, we can keep Chicagoans stably housed during and after this crisis.” Under the Chicago Housing Solidarity Pledge, Chicago’s landlords affirm they may provide one or more of the following for eligible renters who demonstrate a significant financial impact resulting from COVID-19:
• Grace Period for Rent Payments: Offer deferred payments with repayment terms that avoid repayment at the end of the deferral period.
• Written Repayment Plan: Permit renters with a missed rent payment to amortize the payments over time.
• No Late Fees for Missed Payments: Provide relief from rent-related late fees.
Under the terms of the pledge, housing lenders affirm they may provide the following for eligible mortgage holders who demonstrate a significant financial impact from the pandemic:
• Grace Period for Mortgage Payments: Offer deferred payments with repayment terms that avoid immediate repayment at the end of the deferral period.
• Suspension of Foreclosures: Provide relief from foreclosure filing until May 31, 2020.
• Neutral Reporting to Credit Agencies: No reporting late payments to credit reporting agencies, consistent with applicable guidelines, for residential borrowers taking advantage of COVID-19 related relief, provided that loans that were delinquent prior to deferral will continue to be reported as delinquent.
• No Late Fees for Missed Payments: Provide relief from mortgage-related fees.
