AUSTIN — Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush issued the following statement commending President Donald Trump and U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson for authorizing the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to implement an immediate foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages for the next 60 days:

"I would like to thank President Trump and Secretary Carson for their leadership in the effort to help those affected by the health and safety measures being taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"By suspending all foreclosures and evictions during this pivotal time, it encourages more people to stay home and flatten the curve.

"It is important steps like this that will help mitigate some of the impacts of the safety measures we must all take in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and protect our family and friends.

"Please help us spread the word in our communities through social media and telephone calls with one another."

According to the official press release from HUD, these moratoriums are part of the continued effort by President Trump to address impacts to the financial well-being of America's inpiduals, families, and businesses caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19). The guidance issued applies to homeowners with FHA-insured Title II Single Family forward and Home Equity Conversion (reverse) mortgages, and directs mortgage servicers to:

• Halt all new foreclosure actions and suspend all foreclosure actions currently in process; and
• Cease all evictions of persons from FHA-insured single-family properties.

The Texas GLO will help to communicate this information to local leaders and applicants of its various disaster recovery programs. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush worked with HUD previously on expanding mortgage relief to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured homeowners and other measures to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. He continues to work with local, state, and federal officials to ensure Texans know of housing assistance options available to them.

Land Commissioner George P. Bush meeting with local elected officials in Port Arthur about mortgage forbearance in response to Hurricane Harvey on Feb. 20, 2018.