Boston Mortgage Relief

​On April 9, 2020, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a mortgage relief program to help Boston homeowners impacted by the Coronavirus.

As of right now, 12 of the largest housing lenders in Boston will offer at least three months of deferred mortgage payments for homeowners who contact them and demonstrate they have been financially impacted by the public health crisis.

​The list of lenders is:

• Bank of America
• Boston Private
• Cambridge Trust Company
• Century Bank
• Citizens Bank
• City of Boston Credit Union
• Dedham Savings Bank
• Eastern Bank
• Mortgage Network, Inc.
• Prime Lending
• Salem Five Bank
• Santander Bank

 
According to the City, home owners will have the option to extend the three-month deferment for a longer period, if they need it. Other items of note:

• The lenders will not report the deferment as a default or bad loan, and will not report it to credit bureaus, so credit scores should not be impacted.
• They will not charge late fees on the late loan payments or deferments.
• Once the deferment period has ended, the home owner is not required to pay the total deferment amount in a lump sum.
• The lenders are aiming to approve the deferments within 21 days of receiving the home owner’s application.

 
If you do not live in the City of Boston, or if your lender doesn’t appear on this list, you should absolutely call your lender anyway to discuss your options. The $2.2 trillion CARES Act requires mortgage servicers to provide forbearance to any homeowner with a federally-backed mortgage.
 
A word of caution: never just stop paying your mortgage – that will cause your loan to go into default and you will face foreclosure proceedings after 60 days of missed payments. These missed payments will also impact your credit history. You must contact your lender first.
 
In terms of what else the City of Boston is doing, it has extended the due dates for property tax from May 1 to June 1 and Boston’s residential tax exemption from April 1 to June 1. The tax exemption gives Boston home owners a sizable portion off their annual property tax bill -- up to $2879 -- assuming they occupy the home as their primary residence and use the home's address on their tax return.
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For additional questions or programs, please visit boston.gov/coronavirus or call 3-1-1, Boston's 24-hour constituent hotline. 

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