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Rent, mortgages, credit card bills will be on people's minds tonight. |
It's the first of the month and folks in Plainfield like everywhere else are getting out their checkbooks.
It's time to pay bills. Rent. Mortgage. Credit Card. Auto loan.
Mayor Mapp will likely be peppered with questions from worried homeowners, anxious renters, and nervous consumers at tonight's Facebook Live event he is hosting.
Between last month and this, many Plainfielders have found themselves out of work -- laid off or furloughed -- and many will have trouble paying all the bills this month. And for the foreseeable future as long as the coronavirus pandemic has the US economy basically shut down.
While Mayor Mapp has been very good about keeping residents up-to-date on COVID-19 cases, and the state's shelter-in-place regulations, these other questions will be much on Plainfielders' minds tonight.
Gov. Murphy has taken steps to help.
Toward the end of last week, Murphy negotiated a 90-day grace period for mortgage payments with 40 banks and financial institutions. The banks promised not to start any new foreclosure proceedings for at least 60 days.
According to terms of the agreement, credit scores will not be impacted, there will be no late penalties, and it is expected that banks will add the missed payments to the end of the loan instead of requiring one big catch-up payment.
However, mortgagees will have to contact their lenders on their own and will have to show that their difficulties are coronavirus-related.
The situation with renters is a little different. Murphy has issued an executive order forbidding landlords to evict tenants for 90 days. Though he says it will stick, I suspect this will be harder to enforce. Once again, the first thing for tenants to do is get in touch with their landlords.
As for credit cards, he is asking card companies to reduce interest rates (fat chance of that!) and waive late fees.
Small businesses -- like the hundreds in Plainfield's Special Improvement District -- have also been impacted by the shelter-at-home decree.
Many stores and other small businesses have been forced to close. Many restaurants are having a tough time getting by on take-out orders. These businesses also have rents coming due. And their landlords may also have mortgages of their own to pay on their commercial properties.
Everyone is hurting and everyone is looking for help. Though the stimulus package passed by Congress last week will bring resources to bear on the problems, there will be a natural delay in getting programs up and running and then businesses will face the usual paperwork before finally getting aid -- whether loans or grants. In the meantime, some will succumb.
Mayor Mapp's Facebook Live event is 6:00 PM today (April 1). Go to the city's Facebook page here.
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