Protecting your finances during the coronavirus pandemic

“The national emergency formally ending does not change that fact. It also does not change the legal justification for the plan.” If you’re having trouble making payments, there may be assistance available to you. The CARES Act provides relief for most federal student loan borrowers. Many consumers relied on credit cards, and are still relying on them, to pay bills or for basic household needs, like groceries. A Forbes study found that 75% of credit card holders said they have missed a payment or have been late on payments during the pandemic. While credit card use slowed the first year of the pandemic, it picked back up in 2021.

Those with financial challenges seeking health care should contact their local community health care agency, which may have expanded programs related to the ARP, and also can help navigate the ACA marketplace. Many state, local and tribal governments are using the $350 billion allocated by federal relief plans to expand housing, education, health care and other programs, though much of the money is still in limbo as states decide how to use it.

Budget, Financial Reporting, Planning and Performance

If you are unable to repay your missed payments all at once and can afford to pay a higher monthly mortgage payment for a period of time, you may be eligible for a repayment plan which allows you to repay past due amounts over a period of time. The PUA provides emergency unemployment assistance to workers who are left out of regular state UI or who have exhausted their state UI benefits .

The SBA is additionally able to issue de minimis exemptions from any reduction in forgiveness. The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has developed a list of financial resources for Washington consumers impacted by the Coronavirus. The idea that there is a tradeoff between speed and security “is a false premise,” Talcove said. If you believed that, then some of our biggest companies pandemic relief loans in this country that face consumers would be bankrupt, right? “I did 7 last night and 4 of them got email that it’s funded…I’m telling you to apply Bluevine,” an online lender. Hines got six years in prison, and the fraudulent farmers got 18 and 30 months. But Gonzalez and other government officials acknowledge that for every person caught, many, many more have gotten away with it.

Cash, Food, and Medical Assistance

If you have lost your job due to the pandemic crisis, then you must verify you will return to work when the crisis is over. Your account must be in good standing with a positive minimum balance. Homeless Veteran Resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs – Use these resources to find safe housing.

Though some have speculated that the end of the national emergency declaration could undermine the legal justification for continuing the payment pause, the Biden administration maintains its right to continue providing this relief to borrowers. Talcove, whose company maintains huge databases of public records and sells verification services to governments, says the government and the lenders and banks could and should have prevented such widespread fraud. The epic swindle of Covid unemployment relief has been carried out by individual criminals or organized crime groups using stolen identities to claim jobless benefits from state workforce agencies disbursing federal funds. Each identity could be worth up to $30,000 in benefits, Horowitz said.

Federal Support for Small Business Owners and Independent Contractors Impacted by COVID-19

Explain your situation and ask about hardship programs that may be available. Regulatory agencies have encouraged financial institutions to work with customers impacted by the coronavirus. The Covid Economic Injury Disaster Loan program was aimed at helping small businesses and private nonprofit organizations recover from economic disaster as a result of the pandemic. The program provided up to $2 million in assistance to small businesses. But as much as $80 billion may have been stolen from the program, comprising about 10% of the roughly $800 billion in funds given out, NBC News reported earlier this year. The Secret Service has launched thousands of pandemic-related fraud probes and has seized more than $1.2 billion in stolen funds. The White House allocated roughly $5 trillion of Covid relief to Americans through three separate packages during the pandemic to provide assistance to those struggling as a result of the economic shutdown.

• We have the right tools to help you if you’re facing either foreclosure or eviction.
• Social distancing requirements have changed the way many brick-and-mortar banks operate.
• If someone asks you for personal information or money to get a national vaccine certificate or passport, that’s a scam.
• Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work.
• This credit protection is available from January 31, 2020 and ends at the later of 120 days after enactment of the bill or 120 days after the national emergency declaration related to the coronavirus is terminated.

Department of Veteran’s Affairs, which are entities sponsored by the federal government. All these entities have options for homeowners impacted by the Coronavirus. Student loan forgiveness is a release from having to repay the borrowed sum, in full or in part. Though the federal government has introduced numerous measures to provide coronavirus relief, banks are also stepping up to help customers in a variety of ways.

Forgivable Loans and Emergency Grants for Small Businesses

And while prosecutors have 10 years to go after the fraud, given the enormous scope of the criminality, the Justice Department simply doesn’t have the resources to go after it all. In 40 minutes, she had $100,000 in taxpayer money, court documents say. She soon booked a private jet from Florida to California, where she spent $5,500 at a luxury hotel in West Hollywood, court papers allege. Prosecutors say Danielle Miller used stolen identities to get more than $100,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the Small Business Administration and alleged that she spent taxpayer money at luxury hotels throughout California.

Experts say millions of borrowers inflated their numbers of employees or created companies out of whole cloth. Governor Janet Mills announced today that 2,919 Maine small businesses and nonprofit organizations will soon receive a one-time electric utility account credit of more than $2,000 to provide relief from increased energy costs. This relief is the product of legislation sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Aroostook, and signed into law by Governor Mills. The first grants from the Forest Recovery Initiative (FRI-1) were awarded March 2022 to support Maine’s forest products industry by providing direct funding to Maine logging and trucking firms adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first phase of the PRIME Fund provided $23M of direct support to businesses across Maine. The federal government has tasked some 500 people with investigating pandemic-related fraud cases, and has charged 1,500 people with defrauding the programs, with more than 450 convicted so far, according to the New York Times.