As fears about the coronavirus mount, so do concerns about possible quarantines. Quarantine is a very restrictive measure but has the potential to be the most effective at limiting the spread of the coronavirus. Its effectiveness depends on public cooperation and compliance, but there are major impediments to compliance including the loss of income during quarantine.
Because quarantine reaches its peak of effectiveness at 90% compliance, public cooperation with quarantine is critical in containing the spread of disease. There are a series of relief measures being offered to help ease the financial burden. This is a developing situation and more information will be available as the government, lenders and banks update their responses. This is the information available as of March 16, 2020.
- Homeowners who are facing hardship due to the coronavirus have options to postpone mortgage payments, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (https://www.fhfa.gov/). Borrowers experiencing financial difficulty should contact their mortgage servicer immediately to find out what forbearance or hardship options might be available.
- Today the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (https://www.fdic.gov/) encouraged financial institutions to help meet the needs of those customers and members affected by the coronavirus. Customers experiencing financial difficulty should contact their lender to find out what relief options are available. The growing list of banks offering relief to customers include: Bank of America; Capital One; Chase; Citibank; Discover; Fifth Third Bank; PNC Bank; Truist; U.S. Bank; Wells Fargo.
We need to focus on containing the coronavirus. Once the immediate threat of the coronavirus is contained, your options to deal with the financial loss that may result from missing work or closing your business may include a reorganization through bankruptcy. We specialize in restructuring and when that time comes, we are here to assist. But right now, our main goal is to help you better understand your options in the hope that doing so will ease your mind so you can go into voluntary self-quarantine.
Our firm is fully operational, and we are here to help you through these challenging times. During this new paradigm for distance communications, we have enabled our business continuity plans to ensure that we are able to safely serve our clients’ needs. Please continue to contact us via telephone and email and know that we are prepared to conduct online meetings, adding video and screen sharing to better serve you during this time.
