To provide forbearance assistance during a major disaster or emergency, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Mortgage Relief for Disaster Survivors Act requires mortgage servicers to provide forbearance (temporary payment pause) to homeowners with federally backed mortgages when their property is in a disaster area. Borrowers can request up to 180 days of forbearance, with the option to extend for another 180 days, without fees, penalties, or extra interest accruing.
Who Benefits and How
Homeowners and multifamily property owners with federally backed mortgages who experience disasters benefit by gaining a legal right to pause mortgage payments for up to 360 days total without financial penalty. This applies to loans backed by FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD Section 184/184A programs. Borrowers can request forbearance regardless of whether they are already behind on payments.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Mortgage servicers (banks and lending institutions) must grant forbearance requests promptly and cannot charge fees, penalties, or additional interest during the forbearance period. This creates an administrative burden and potentially reduces short-term revenue for servicers. The federal agencies backing these loans (FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) may face increased costs from delayed payments and potential defaults.
Key Provisions
- Borrowers in disaster areas can request forbearance by phone, writing, online, or other servicer-approved methods
- Initial forbearance period is 180 days, extendable by another 180 days
- No fees, penalties, or excess interest can accrue during forbearance
- Applies to disasters declared on or after January 1, 2025
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes mandatory forbearance assistance for borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans who are located in disaster areas declared by the President or state governors
Key Policy Areas
Housing, Financial Services, Disaster Relief
Primary Purpose
Establishes mandatory forbearance assistance for borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans who are located in disaster areas declared by the President or state governors
Policy Domains
Section 2 - Definitions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Homeowners with federally backed mortgages
- Multifamily property owners with federal backing
- Low-income homeowners (FHA borrowers)
- Veterans (VA loan borrowers)
- Rural homeowners (USDA borrowers)
- Native American homeowners (HUD Section 184)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Mortgage servicers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Section 3 - Forbearance Requirements
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Disaster-affected homeowners
- Disaster-affected multifamily property owners
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Mortgage servicers
- Banks and lending institutions
- Federal mortgage backing agencies (FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac)
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Schiff (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following …
Impact analysis is available but no clear stakeholder effects identified. View clause-level analysis →
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "governor"
- → Governor of a State
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "chief_executive"
- → Chief Executive of an Indian tribal government
- "borrower"
- → Borrower with a covered mortgage loan
- "servicer"
- → Mortgage loan servicer
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A Federally backed mortgage loan or a Federally backed multifamily mortgage loan
The period beginning on the date of the declaration of a disaster and ending on the date on which the declaration ends
Any major disaster or emergency declared by the President under section 401 or 501 of the Stafford Act, or any disaster or emergency declared by a State Governor or tribal Chief Executive
Any area that is subject to the declaration of the disaster
A loan secured by a first or subordinate lien on 1-4 family residential property that is insured/guaranteed by FHA, VA, USDA, or purchased/securitized by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae
A loan secured by residential multifamily property (5+ families) that is insured/guaranteed by HUD, VA, USDA, or purchased/securitized by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology