1st Mortgage Payment Break for Local Authority borrowers, affected by Covid-19 Emergency
Laois County Council borrowers, who consider themselves to be in need of the financial support, related to the COVID-19 situation, have the option of a Mortgage Payment Break, for up to three months.
The option of a mortgage payment break, will be open to Laois County Council borrowers, who has experienced a reduction of income, arising out of COVID-19, or who considers that they will experience, such an income reduction and wishes to avail of the option as a precautionary measure.
A mortgage payment break means that the borrower will make no mortgage payments for up to three months. Additional interest will NOT accrue to the borrowers account during the period of the payment break, ensuring that no increased cost will arise. The monthly repayment following this 3 Month break, will be increased, to facilitate the repayment of the loan, over the remainder of the existing term of the loan.
The mortgage payment break is also open to local authority borrowers, who are currently in arrears and further impacted by Covid-19. However, the borrower must be currently engaging with Laois County Council, in relation to their arrears and complying with relevant conditions, set by the Housing Loans Section.
It is recognized, that some borrowers may have already entered into arrears, arising out of COVID-19 and not yet entered into a Repayment Plan. Therefore, those borrowers who have entered into arrears from March 2020, are considered eligible to apply for a mortgage payment break.
At the end of the mortgage payment break, repayments will resume at a marginally higher level (exclusive of MPI) for the borrower , so that the original home loan, will be repaid in full within its original term (original amount calculated over the remaining term minus length of the payment break).
1st MPB Covid-19 – Application form for Mortgage Payment Break- Final -15th AprilL, 2020
1st MPB Covid-19 – Mortgage Payment Break – Frequently Asked Questions
2nd Mortgage Payment Break for Local Authority borrowers, affected by Covid-19 Emergency
Laois County Council Loan borrowers, who consider themselves to be in need of the financial support, related to the continuing COVID-19 situation, can avail of the option of a further additional mortgage payment break, for three months.
A Mortgage Payment break means that, the borrower will make no mortgage payments, for three months. Additional interest will NOT accrue to the borrowers Account, during the period of the payment break, ensuring that no increased cost will arise. The Monthly Repayment following the break will be increased, to facilitate the repayment of the loan, over the remainder of the existing term of the Loan.
The additional mortgage payment break has been developed based on the same principles as the initial mortgage payment break, namely to:
1. ensure that it can be accessed easily by local authority borrowers while using technology to its full advantage to comply with HSE guidelines on social distancing;
2. ensure consistent treatment for all local authority borrowers;
For those local authority borrowers who have already availed of a mortgage payment break:
At the end of the initial Mortgage Payment break, our Loan borrowers who have already availed of a mortgage payment break, will have two options to either:
1. Return to repaying their mortgage; or
2.Extend their COVID-19 payment break to a maximum of 6 months in total.
For those borrowers who may have exercised caution for their first mortgage payment break, by not availing of the full three month payment break, they may now avail of more than three months for their second payment break to bring their total break to six months, if appropriate. This is to ensure consistent treatment for all borrowers.
For those borrowers who are applying for their first mortgage break, with effect from the 26th June, 2020, they may now only apply for a break of three months;
A local authority borrower applying for their first mortgage payment break may only apply for a maximum of two mortgage payment breaks of three months each; and may not apply for a single break of up to six months.
Mortgage payment breaks must be back-to-back, i.e. the second break must directly follow the first, after the closing date of 30 September 2020.
Applicants must return the completed Additional Mortgage Payment Break Application Form to be processed and once Borrowers their Additional Mortgage Payment Break- Notification of Approval, must return a signed, Declaration and Acceptance Form, with the Notification letter, to commence the Extension to the existing Mortgage Payment Break.
2nd MPB Covid-19 – Application Form for Mortgage Payment Break
2nd MPB Covid-19 – Mortgage Break Extension – Frequently Asked Questions
3rd Mortgage Payment Break for Local Authority borrowers, affected by Covid-19 Emergency
Additional arrangements are in place to support Laois County Council borrowers, who are experiencing financial distress, arising out of the continuing Covid-19 situation.
- OVERVIEW
Amendments to the mortgage payment break, of which the main ones are:
- Introduction of a third mortgage payment break for Laois County Council borrowers, bringing the total of the three mortgage payment breaks up to a maximum of nine months;
- A closing date of 31st December, 2020, for the first time applicants applying for their first mortgage payment break:
- Introduction of additional measures to support engagement with Laois County Council borrowers, who wish to avail of a third mortgage payment break.
- PROVISION OF A THIRD MORTGAGE PAYMENT BREAK
Having regard to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, Laois County Council borrowers, who consider themselves to be in need of the financial support, are now being given the option, of a third mortgage payment break, for an additional three months, bringing the total duration of the mortgage payment breaks, to a maximum of nine months.
A Mortgage Payment Break means that the borrower will make no mortgage payments against the Principal and the interest for the duration of the mortgage payment break. Additional interest will NOT accrue to the borrower’s account during the period of the mortgage payment break ensuring that no increased cost to the borrower will arise. The monthly repayment following the mortgage payment break, will increase to facilitate the repayment of the loan over the remainder of the existing term of the loan. This facility applies to all Laois County Council home loan types.
This approach will continue for the provision of the third mortgage payment break.
Further details on the operation of the third mortgage payment break are set out below.
To summarise
For those Laois County Council borrowers, who have not yet availed of a mortgage payment break:
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- For those local authority borrowers who wish to apply for a first mortgage payment break, they will be able to apply to Laois County Council, for their first mortgage payment break of three months, up to and including the closing date of 31st December, 2020.
For those Laois County Council borrowers, who have already availed of a first mortgage payment break:
At the end of the first mortgage payment break, borrowers who have already availed of a mortgage payment break can either:
- Return to repaying their mortgage; or
- Apply for a second mortgage payment break of three months bringing the total duration of the two mortgage payment breaks up to a maximum of 6 months.
For those local authority borrowers, who have already availed of a second mortgage payment break:
At the end of the second mortgage payment break those borrowers can either:
- Return to repaying their mortgage; or
- Apply for a third mortgage payment break bringing the total duration of the three mortgage payment breaks up to a maximum of 9 months.
In summary, Laois County Council borrowers may now apply for a maximum of three mortgage payment breaks. Each mortgage payment break shall only apply for three months; when three mortgage payment breaks are taken, the total duration of the three mortgage payment breaks is 9 months. A borrower may not apply for a mortgage payment break of more than three months in one application. For a borrower applying for their first mortgage payment break, they may apply until the closing date for the first application of 31st December, 2020, and any application received on or prior to this date will be eligible to apply.
- APPLICATION AND COMMUNICATION PROCESS
To be eligible for a mortgage payment break, a Laois County Council borrower will have to confirm that they have experienced, or consider that they potentially will experience, a reduction in income as a result of the Covid-19 situation. The same approach applies to the application for a second and third mortgage payment break.
The application process for a third mortgage payment break, will be through an additional new Application form, for a third mortgage payment break, which will be available online from www.laois.ie
As before, on receipt of a completed form, Laois County Council will issue a Notification of Approval, which will include details of each mortgage payment break and the implication for future repayments, with revised financial information relating to the third mortgage payment break. A signed Declaration and Acceptance form for each mortgage payment break, must be returned through the ordinary Post.
Illustrative examples of the financial implications of a mortgage payment break have been provided as part of the updated Frequently Asked Questions, a copy of which is attached, and are updated to reflect the financial implications of the total duration of the three mortgage payment breaks up to a maximum of nine months.
As before, the application process for a mortgage payment break, will inform the borrower of the specific details, in relation to their loan account, and a mortgage payment break summary will be provided to the applicant, as part of their Notification of Approval to ensure informed Consent for each mortgage payment break.
- ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMEMT WITH APPLICANTS FOR A THIRD MORTGAGE PAYMENT BREAK
The Housing Loans Team of Laois County Council will engage with borrowers, during their third mortgage payment break, in order to support borrower awareness and to mitigate potential delays relating to the repayment of mortgages.
3rd MPB Covid-19 Application form for Mortgage Payment Break
3rd MPB Covide-19 – Mortgage Payment Break – Frequently Asked Questions
You are welcome to email the Team on housingloans@laoiscoco.ie or contact 057-8664126/057-8664062/057-8664229/057-8664056 if you require clarification on any element of the above