4
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 29, 2020
Old Astoria Neighborhood Association calls for
relief of small landlords’ mortgage payments
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
announced he is implementing
a 90-day stop to
all evictions for residential
and commercial tenants
on Friday, March
20 due to the COVID-19
pandemic — after the Old
Astoria Neighborhood Association
(OANA) called
for specific relief of small
landlords’ mortgage payments.
“We request urgent action
to address pressing
mortgage payments for
residential real estate, in
light of the economic slowdown
caused by COVID-
19,” OANA wrote in an
op-ed last week. “Specifically,
we’d like to emphasize
such urgency as it
pertains to single family
units, condos, co-ops and
one to three multifamily
buildings.”
OANA added that while
they support relieving
tenants from evictions, “it
cannot be at the expense
of homeowners and landlords
if we want the private
sector to continue to
provide single or multifamily
housing units.”
“Whether the owner
has lost their own job
(affecting single family,
condos or coops), or lost
income from their tenants
(in multifamily buildings),
the repercussions of
failed mortgages can lead
to disaster,” OANA wrote.
The Astoria-based nonprofit
cited Wells Fargo as
a private bank that was
only “offering a one-time
relief of any penalties for
late or non-payment of a
mortgage” but are still
reporting it to the credit
bureaus.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson
told QNS that the
company is working on a
daily basis to provide support
for their customers
impacted by COVID-19.
But they added that they
need to speak to customers
directly to help them.
“We are providing assistance
including fee
waivers, payment deferrals,
and other expanded
assistance for credit card,
auto, mortgage, small
business and personal
lending customers who
contact us, and we will
continue to communicate
with customers as the
situation evolves,” Wells
Fargo said in a statement.
C o n g r e s s w o m a n
Carolyn Maloney (who
represents Astoria) led
a request for a moratorium
on all foreclosures
and eviction with a letter
signed by 106 Congress
members, including
Queens Congress member
Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez, Nydia Velazquez
and Gregory Meeks, on
Wednesday, March 18.
The letter called for
the immediate, nationwide
moratorium on all
foreclosures and evictions
from properties owned,
insured, or overseen by
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,
the Department of Housing
and Urban Development
(HUD), the Federal
Housing Administration
(FHA), the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA),
and the Department of Agriculture
(USDA) in light
of the developing coronavirus
epidemic.
Those federally-backed
agencies make up more
than 60 percent of all
mortgages in the United
States.
A spokesperson from
Maloney’s told QNS that
this will also apply to
small landlords who can’t
pay their mortgages due to
the pandemic. A few hours
after that letter was sent,
the White House’s administration
announced
HUD would suspend foreclosures
and evictions insured
by FHA for at least
60 days.
The Federal Housing
Finance Agency also ordered
Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac to suspend
foreclosures and evictions
for any enterprise-backed
single-family mortgages.
“The announcement
that the Administration
has agreed to my request
to suspend foreclosure and
eviction actions should
start to provide some relief
to members of the Old
Astoria Neighborhood Association,”
Maloney said
in a statement. “I am also
calling on private lenders
to suspend foreclosure
and eviction actions.”
Wells Fargo told QNS
that they have “temporarily
stopped all foreclosurerelated
activity for loans”
they hold.
On March 20, OANA
President Richard Khuzami
thanked Gov. Cuomo
for addressing the issue
and providing more guidelines,
such as waiving
mortgage payments based
on financial hardship,
no negative reporting to
credit bureaus, grace period
for loan modification,
no late payment fees or
online payment fees, and
postponing or suspending
foreclosures.
Cuomo also asked the
Department of Financial
Services to instruct state
chartered banks to waive
ATM fees, late fees, overdraft
fees and fees for
credit cards.
“Making common
sense directives to reduce
the burden we are all facing
with the pandemic
makes a positive resolution
that much more possible,”
Khuzami wrote in
an op-ed. “We thank all
our officials, especially
the local and state elected,
for taking responsible
actions for the betterment
of all. Let’s finish the job,
and defer the rental payments
also.”
QNS File Photo