Topic: Pandemic Preparedness and Response
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We heard that the Trump administration declared Christmas Eve a federal holiday. Will the Federal Reserve System also adopt Christmas Eve as a holiday?
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We do not believe that Christmas Eve has been declared a federal holiday by the Federal Reserve System, and it has not added Christmas Eve to its list of observed holidays for 2020 (nor has the IDFPR). President Trump’s recent Executive Order 13965 declares that all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government “shall…
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We are aware that vehicle repossessions had previously been suspended under COVID-related Illinois executive orders. Have banks been allowed to resume vehicle repossessions as of October 29, 2020?
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Yes, banks have been allowed to resume vehicle repossessions since August 23, 2020. On July 24, 2020 the Illinois governor issued Executive Order 2020-48, which rescinded the suspension on vehicle repossessions after August 22, 2020. Subsequent executive orders have not extended the suspension of vehicle repossessions in Illinois. For resources related to our guidance, please…
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The Illinois Governor recently announced COVID-19 resurgence mitigations for Regions 7 and 8 taking effect on October 23, 2020. Will the mitigation measures affect bank lobbies? Should we close our lobbies and provide services only through the drive-through? We don’t want to close our lobbies if we’re not required to do so.
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No, the COVID-19 resurgence mitigations for Regions 7 and 8 taking effect on October 23, 2020, do not apply to banks and will not affect bank lobbies or require lobby closures. The resurgence mitigations are being implemented under the state’s Restore Illinois Resurgence Plan, and they apply only to bars, restaurants, and meetings, social events,…
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Is Executive Order 2020-14, which authorized remote notarizations, still in effect? It is not referenced in the most recent Executive Order (2020-59) that extended many of the COVID-19-related executive orders.
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Disclaimer: The Electronic Commerce Security Act (ECSA) was repealed and replaced with the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act (UETA), effective June 25, 2021. Please note that this change may affect the continued accuracy of this guidance as it pertains to the ECSA. On June 12, 2020, the Electronic Commerce Security Act was amended to authorize remote witnessing…
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We received a garnishment order for one of our business customers. Does the COVID-19-related moratorium on garnishment proceedings in Illinois apply only to consumers and not to businesses?
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Yes, the current prohibition against the service of garnishment summonses in Illinois applies only to consumer debtors and consumer garnishees. Under Executive Order 2020-25, as amended and extended by Executive Order 2020-55, the service of a garnishment summons, wage deduction summons, or a citation to discover assets on a consumer debtor or consumer garnishee is…
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Is there still a moratorium on vehicle repossessions in Illinois under a COVID-19-related Executive Order?
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No, the prohibition against vehicle repossessions in Illinois was rescinded on August 23, 2020. On July 24, the Illinois governor issued Executive Order 2020-48, which reissued and extended Executive Order 2020-16 (suspending the repossession of vehicles for the duration of the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation) through August 22, 2020, and rescinded the prohibition on repossessions after…
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Would a citation to discover assets or a garnishment summons served on a natural person debtor for a non-consumer debt (such as a commercial loan for which the natural person debtor served as a guarantor) be subject to the Illinois Supreme Court’s COVID-19 order on post-judgment proceedings served after March 8, 2020? It is perplexing that the order does not apply to judgments that are not exclusively against a natural person, since many commercial judgments involve both a business and its personal guarantors.
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Yes, we believe that the Illinois Supreme Court’s COVID-19 order would apply to natural persons who owe a non-consumer debt, unless their property is held in a business account. The substantive provisions of the Illinois Supreme Court order state that it applies to certain garnishment and citation proceedings “arising out of a judgment that is…
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We are providing the payment deferral outlined in the CARES Act to all our loan customers, including loans held in portfolio and loans serviced for Fannie Mae. Some of our customers will soon be entering the repayment phase of the forbearance agreement. Would adding the accrued interest to the principal balance and re-amortizing the loan over the remaining term trigger flood insurance requirements as a M.I.R.E. event? Does it matter whether capitalizing the accrued interest would cause the loan balance to exceed the original principal balance? Also, would any other disclosure requirements be triggered — assuming the modification does not constitute a “refinancing” under Regulation Z?
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We believe that adding unpaid interest to the loan’s principal balance (i.e., capitalizing the interest) —regardless of whether this would cause the loan balance to exceed the original principal balance — would trigger the flood insurance requirements, unless your loan contract permits unpaid interest to be capitalized, or your forbearance agreement by its terms is…
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How does the Illinois Executive Order prohibiting evictions affect foreclosures? We would like to initiate some foreclosure proceedings, knowing that it will take at least nine months before we reach the eviction stage. Can we proceed with a foreclosure while the prohibition on evictions remains in place?
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The Illinois Executive Orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic — including the orders placing restrictions on evictions — do not prohibit lenders from commencing or proceeding with foreclosure actions. However, some Illinois courts have stayed or restricted mortgage foreclosure proceedings. Additionally, certain federally-backed or federally-insured mortgage loans may be subject to a foreclosure moratorium. Accordingly,…
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Under the Illinois Executive Orders currently in effect, can banks commence or proceed with residential foreclosures? We are aware of the foreclosure restrictions related to federally-backed or federally-insured mortgage loans, but we would like to know whether we can move forward with foreclosures of our in-house mortgage loans.
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The Illinois Executive Orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic do not prohibit lenders from commencing or proceeding with foreclosure actions. However, some Illinois courts have stayed or restricted mortgage foreclosure proceedings. Accordingly, we recommend consulting with your foreclosure counsel regarding any applicable county-level restrictions on foreclosure actions. Two examples of Illinois courts that have restricted…