Getty Images

While the moratorium doesn?t apply to everyone, it?s a good start President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a sweeping moratorium on foreclosures for homeowners with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or Federal Housing Administration mortgages on single-family homes. In addition, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will encourage local public housing authorities (PHAs) to suspend evictions on public housing residents.
FHA loans and public housing residents account for more than 9 million households, while Freddie- or Fannie-backed mortgages account for the vast majority of single-family homes. The Freddie and Fannie moratorium will last at least 60 days.
The moves come in response to the economic fallout caused by the spread of COVID-19, commonly referred to as novel coronavirus, which could lead to unemployment rising as high as 20 percent, according to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are guarantors on the vast majority of mortgages, which they buy and bundle into bonds called mortgage-backed securities. Most mortgages fall into this category, as 97.7 percent of mortgage securities were issued by the agencies so far in 2020, according to the Urban Institute.
This means if you have a mortgage, it was mostly likely sold to Freddie or Fannie and thus the foreclosure moratorium likely applies to you. Homeowners who don?t have mortgages backed by Freddie or Fannie are likely to be subprime borrower...