Visit https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/guide-coronavirus-mortgage-relief-options/ to learn more about coronavirus mortgage relief options under the CARES Act. Visit https://www.consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus for more information about protecting and managing your finances due to the financial impact of the national coronavirus emergency. If you are experiencing difficulty making on-time mortgage payments due to the national coronavirus emergency, forbearance may be an option for you. Forbearance can help consumers get back on their feet during short-term financial difficulty, but there are a few things you need to know and some important decisions you’ll need to make. Forbearance is when your mortgage servicer, that’s the company that sends your mortgage statement and manages your loan, or lender allows you to pause or reduce your payments for a limited period of time. Forbearance does not erase what you owe. You’ll have to repay any missed or reduced payments in the future. So, if you’re able to keep up with your payments, keep making them. The types of forbearance available vary by loan type. If your mortgage is backed by the federal government—this includes FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans—provisions of the recently enacted CARES Act allow you to suspend payments for up to twelve months if you are experiencing financial difficulty due to the impact of the coronavirus on your finances. Loan servicers may also have forbearance or deferment options for non-government backed or private loans, but the exact options available to you may differ. Here’s how this works for federally-backed mortgages under the CARES Act. If you are experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, you have a right to request forbearance for up to one hundred eighty days. You also have the right to request an extension for up to an additional one hundred eighty days. But, you must contact your loan servicer to request this forbearance. There won’t be any additional fees, penalties or interest added to your account. But, your regular interest will still accrue. Other than telling your servicer that you have a pandemic-related financial hardship, you won’t need to submit additional documentation to qualify for this forbearance. It’s important to find out what options are available to you. The best place to find that information is from your loan servicer. Look for their contact info on your monthly mortgage statement. Right now, most financial institutions, including mortgage servicers, are experiencing high call volumes, so there may be long wait times to talk to someone on the phone. Regardless of the type of mortgage you have or how you communicate with your servicer, here are some things to consider. If you cannot make your mortgage payments, and you are looking to suspend or reduce your payments, you will need to work with your servicer. If you decide to move forward with a forbearance plan, ask your servicer how you will be required to pay back the amount owed after the forbearance period. Will you owe the entire unpaid amount in a lump sum once the pause period has ended or at the end of the loan term? Can the loan term be extended so that missed payments are added to the end of your mortgage? Will your subsequent monthly payments be higher for a period of time to make up the deferred amount? Finally, be on the lookout for scams and scammers looking to take advantage of consumers affected by coronavirus. You might receive fraudulent calls, emails, text messages or other “offers” to help you reduce or stop your mortgage payments. Make sure you are working directly with your mortgage servicer. Connect with CFPB https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CFPB Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CFPB/

This is a recording of the CFPB Financial Well-being Research Conference on November 13, 2019. The conference brought together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss the latest research on financial well-being using the Bureau’s Financial Well-being Scale.

Your tax refund may be one of the biggest checks you receive all year. If you’re getting a tax refund, consider saving some or all of it. Putting your refund into savings can help you prepare for unforeseen expenses throughout the year, and work toward longer term savings goals such as buying a house or paying for college. For more information on using your tax refund to jumpstart your savings visit https://www.consumerfinance.gov/taxtime. We're the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly. Learn how the CFPB can help you: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/the-bureau/ Connect with CFPB https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CFPB Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CFPB/

Symposium on Consumer Access to Financial Records and Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 1033 addresses consumers’ rights to access information about their financial accounts. The Bureau’s data access symposium is intended to elicit a variety of perspectives on the current and future state of the market for services based on consumer-authorized use of financial data. The event will feature remarks by Bureau Director Kathleen L. Kraninger. This symposium will consist of three panels of experts. The first panel will assess the current landscape of holders of consumer data and the benefits and risks of consumer-authorized data access. The panel will be moderated by Paul Watkins, Assistant Director in the Bureau’s Office of Innovation. The panel experts are: Becky Heironimus, Managing Vice President of Customer Platforms, Data Ethics and Privacy, Capital One John Pitts, Policy Lead, Plaid Natalie Talpas, Senior Vice President, Product Group Manager, Digital, PNC Christina Tetreault, Senior Policy Counsel, Consumer Reports Nick Thomas, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Finicity The second panel will include a discussion on market developments in consumer-authorized data access. The panel will be moderated by Will Wade-Gery, Senior Advisor in the Bureau’s Office of Innovation. The panel experts are: Steven Boms, Executive Director, FDATA N.A. Lila Fakhraie, Senior Vice President, Digital Banking APIs, Wells Fargo Bank Jason Gross, Co-Founder & CEO, Petal Melissa Koide, CEO, FinRegLab James Reuter, CEO & President, First Bank Holding Company The third panel will focus on the future state of the market, as well as considerations for policymakers on how to ensure consumer data is safeguarded while ensuring that consumers have continual access to their data. The panel will be moderated by Thomas Devlin, Managing Counsel in the Bureau’s Research, Markets and Regulation Division. The panel experts are: Jane Barratt, Chief Advocacy Officer, MX Thomas P. Brown, Partner, Antitrust and Competition and Global Banking and Payment Systems Practices, Paul Hastings LLP Brian Knight, Director of Innovation and Governance, Mercatus Center Dan Murphy, Policy Manager, Financial Health Network Natalie Williams, General Counsel, Responsible Banking and Data, JPMorgan Chase Chi Chi Wu, Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center The symposium is the fourth in a series announced last year to explore consumer protections in today’s dynamic financial services marketplace. The series is aimed at stimulating a proactive and transparent dialogue to assist the Bureau in its policy development process, including possible future rulemakings. The first symposium on June 25, 2019, covered the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on abusive acts or practices. The second symposium on September 19, 2019, covered behavioral law and economics. The third symposium on November 6, 2019, covered Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Members of the public who plan to attend the symposium in person should RSVP at this link: https://surveys.consumerfinance.gov/jfe/form/SV_bPAsiX8LE1PVAax. Additional information about the event is available here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/events/cfpb-symposium-consumer-access-financial-records/.

Financial education practitioners note that the workplace is the only place most adults receive financial education. We have learned employees want help from their employers. Find out about resources the Bureau has created to help support employers as they develop strategies to assist their employees with personal finance issues. Hear about financial well-being as it applies to employers through our tool, the Financial Well-being Scale, and our new initiative, Start Small, Save Up. See our new employer landing page which forms the basis of our outreach efforts to employers. Finally, hear from an employer on how they are engaging with their employees to provide personal financial literacy support, tools and education. We're the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly. Learn how the CFPB can help you: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/the-bureau/ Connect with CFPB https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CFPB Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CFPB/

Learn about how the CFPB is encouraging further evidence and research on educating youth on financial literacy. Presenters will summarize what research has shown about what works in K-12 Financial Education and discuss questions that still need to be answered. The target audience for this webinar is any financial practitioner who works to improve the financial well-being of youth and/or young adults. This webinar features Meina Banh and Leslie Jones from CFPB’s K-12 program. For more information, please visit: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/practitioner-resources/students/ We're the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly. Learn how the CFPB can help you: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/the-bureau/

Dealing with debt collection issues can be challenging—especially when you’re not sure if the person you’re being contacted by is legitimate or trying to scam you. While there are many legitimate debt collectors in the financial marketplace, there are also scammers who may try to get you to pay on debts that you don’t owe or on debts that don’t even exist. Learn the warning signs of debt collection scams, how to tell if a debt collector is legitimate, and how to protect yourself from being scammed. To learn more about debt collection scams, visit: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/how-tell-difference-between-legitimate-debt-collector-and-scammers/ For more resources on protecting yourself from fraud and scams, visit: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/fraud/ Connect with CFPB https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ Twitter https://twitter.com/CFPB Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CFPB/