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Coronavirus In Colorado: As People Struggle To Pay Rent, Landlords Can't Pay Mortgage

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - Yasi Taylor owns several retail buildings on South Parker Toad in Centennial and all of her tenants have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

"It has been quite stressful because in the last few weeks I've been receiving multiple emails calls from my tenants concerned they cannot pay their rents," Taylor told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.

MORTGAGE RENT RELIEF 10 PKG.transfer_frame_94
(credit: CBS)

Taylor says she's trying to work with her tenants, but she needs help from her bank, Wells Fargo. In a few days she's going to owe $45,000 on the property. Taylor says she's been in contact with her loan officer and they keep asking questions like which tenants can't pay their rent. She says it's not that easy.

"I went back and said they're not telling me they're not going to pay me rent, they're just saying they're looking for relief. And I need to be able to give them some sort of relief and help them out, but I need to know what you're providing us as a borrower," she told CBS4.

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(credit: CBS)

In a statement Wells Fargo outlined these steps they're taking and said they also apply to people in Taylor's position:

Small Businesses:

  • We are committed to supporting our small business customers in a variety of ways, including payment relief for up to 90 days, fee waivers, payment deferrals, increases to lines of credit for Business Card and BusinessLine customers for disaster relief and other expanded assistance for deposits, small business lending, practice finance, and SBA products.
  • Wells Fargo has also temporarily stopped all foreclosure-related activity and eviction for small business customers with loans in our lending portfolio.
  • We are reviewing the specifics of the CARES Act legislation. In the coming days, Treasury and the Small Business Administration will be issuing rules to govern the disbursement and administration of these emergency funds. Wells Fargo is closely monitoring developments with Treasury/SBA guidance and determining how we can be most helpful to our small business customers.
  • MORTGAGE RENT RELIEF 10 PKG.transfer_frame_1205
    (credit: CBS)

Homeowner Relief:

  • We encourage customers to continue making their payments if they can but are granting an immediate three-month payment suspension for any Wells Fargo Home Lending mortgage or home equity customer who requests assistance. For customers who contact us to take advantage of a payment suspension, we won't report past-due status to the consumer reporting agencies or charge late charges during the suspension period.
  • It's important to emphasize the customers need to contact us if they would like to receive a payment suspension.
  • Because our contact centers are experiencing significant call volumes, we encourage mortgage and home equity customers who need assistance to submit a secure request through Wells Fargo's online banking message center and we will respond within 3 to 5 days.
  • Wells Fargo also has temporarily stopped all foreclosure-related activity and evictions for customers with loans we hold in our portfolio. For loans we service for FHA, VA and the GSEs, we will follow their guidance for temporary halts to foreclosure sales and evictions.

Taylor is hoping to get an answer soon about her property, and has a message for all banks during this time:

"We bailed them out in 2008, and I believe it's their obligation and responsibility to support their communities and borrowers today."

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