Left temporarily homeless by Helene and Milton, many struggle to pay their mortgages
Hudson, Florida — Six months after Hurricane Helene hit Beth and Alex Brightman's home in Hudson, Florida, the flood damage is still visible.
Since then, they have changed the message at their front door to "Let's not stay home."
"It originally said, 'let's stay home,' because that's all we wanted to do, was stay here in our retirement home," Beth explained.
The Brightman's thought the would be OK, because they have both flood insurance and homeowner's insurance. However, flood insurance only covered damage to the structure of their home, and homeowner's insurance doesn't cover contents lost from flooding.
Flood insurance must be purchased separately, often from the federal government. FEMA estimates only 4% of homeowners across the country have flood insurance.
"If we had a hole in the roof and rain came in, then our belongings would have been covered through the homeowner's," Beth told CBS News.
As a result, they are using savings for repairs while living in a rental but still with a $2,500 monthly mortgage.
About a month after hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the Southeast, nearly 60,000 homeowners fell behind on their mortgages, according to ICE Mortgage Technology, which tracks mortgage data.
And there's been a similar trend after January's devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. Right now, 4,100 homeowners there are delinquent on their mortgage payments, per ICE Mortgage Technology.
Paul Willen, principal economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, says that, historically, lenders have worked out arrangements with disaster victims.
"They understand that you have short-term cash flow issues," Willen said. "…The last thing they want is for a borrower to end up defaulting on a mortgage."
One option with your bank is forbearance, which allows you to temporarily pause mortgage payments.
"It basically gives you a way of paying for stuff up front, and freeing up cash flow," Willen said.
The forbearance option gave the Brightmans relief from their house payments for six months.
"It's been helpful, but then now it's going to turn around and be a big bite," Beth said.
That bite will be about $15,000, the total amount deferred that is now coming due all at once.
And forbearance can also have long-term consequences for homeowners, affecting credit, ability to refinance and home equity.
Says Beth and Alex: "This is the year to rebuild, recover, and then...go from there."
