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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2020)
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 BUSINESS & AG Column: What to do when you can’t pay your bills The economic fallout from the corona- virus pandemic could be profound. Many people are already losing jobs, with unem- ployment jumping at a record pace. Even those who stay employed may face reduced hours or uncertainty about how long their paychecks will continue. LIZ WESTON SYNDICATED COLUMNIST If you’re in a situation where you can’t pay all your bills, or likely to be there soon, you may have some options to limit the damage to your fi nances. Prioritize essentials Before paying anything else, try to cover the basics: shelter (mortgage or rent), food and utilities. Transportation, cell phone ser- vice and child care are necessities if they allow you to work. The recently enacted stimulus package includes a 120-day ban on evictions for many renters, as well as a moratorium on foreclosures for most mortgages. People who have federally backed mortgages (including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and Department of Agriculture) and who can attest to COVID-19-related fi nan- cial hardship can request forbearance from their mortgage lenders. If you’re going to miss a mortgage pay- LOCATION Continued from Page 1B “A lot of (demolition) had to be competed before we could even think about moving in,” Burgess said. “There was a lot of work that was done to this place before we even put one stick of product in it.” The store’s original soft open was going to be in February, but then was moved to March. The offi - cial grand opening, which was set for May, now depends on how long coro- navirus remains a threat. The store hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mon- day-Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. “We have a lot to offer with what’s in the store,” Burgess said. ment, contact your lender about hardship options and consider talking to a housing counselor approved by the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Develop- ment. You can call HUD at 888-995-4673 for round-the-clock foreclosure avoidance assistance. Housing counselors can help renters, as well. Another good resource is Just Shelter, which can point you to local organizations fi ghting eviction and homelessness. Also, emergency rental assistance may be avail- able. Start your search for help at www.211. org. Your local 211 organization can also connect you to resources to pay for other essentials, including food and utilities. Reg- ulators in some states have told utilities not to shut off service for nonpayment during the crisis; elsewhere many utilities have vowed to suspend disconnections. Many also offer lower-cost “lifeline” service or payment plans if you fall behind. If your car payments are too expensive and you owe less than the car is worth, you may be able to refi nance the loan. Other- wise, the best option may be to sell it and buy something cheaper, if possible. If you owe more than the car’s value, you may still be able to sell it if you can get a personal loan to cover the difference in what you owe. Try to avoid repossession, either vol- untary or otherwise, since you’ll still be on the hook for any defi cit and your credit will suffer. Identify the next level Taxes, child support and insurance are expenses that can have serious conse- quences when you fail to pay. The IRS and state tax agencies can take a portion of your wages, seize money from your bank account and even send you to jail (although that doesn’t usually happen unless you’re deliberately committing tax fraud). Similar penalties await people who fail to pay child support. Falling behind on insurance payments, meanwhile, can cause your policies to lapse, leaving you vulnerable to potentially catastrophic expenses. Some options for relief: •The IRS has pushed back the tax fi ling deadline to July 15. Many states are fol- lowing suit. Tax agencies have payment plans if you can’t immediately pay what you owe. •You may be able to modify a child sup- port agreement if you go back to court. •If your insurance is unaffordable, talk to the insurer about alternatives or shop around for a less expensive policy. Consider everything else Access to credit can help you pay the bills when your income isn’t enough. Ide- ally you would make minimum payments on any loans or credit cards, since skipped payments can seriously damage your credit scores and cut off your ability to borrow. Miss enough payments and you could face collection calls, lawsuits and wage garnishment. But some bills have a “pause” button. You can ask for forbearance on federal stu- dent loans, for example, which allows you to temporarily stop making payments. Since interest on federal education loans has been waived during the crisis, forbear- ance won’t increase what you owe. Plus, federal loans have income-driven repay- ment plans that potentially can reduce your required payments to zero. The U.S. Department of Education’s federal student aid site has details. Meanwhile, some banks and other lenders are offering their customers more options after federal regulators encouraged fi nancial institutions to help consumers affected by the pandemic. For example, credit card issuers, including Capital One and American Express, are allowing cus- tomers who ask for help to skip a monthly payment without penalty. Contact your lenders to see what’s available and how to qualify for any assistance. Unfortunately, sometimes the avail- able help isn’t enough. A credit counsel- or’s debt management plan could allow you to repay your debt at lower rates, or you may need to consider bankruptcy, which stops collections activity and legally erases many debts. You can get referrals from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, respectively. OSU off ers online lecture series through College of Forestry The Associated Press CORVALLIS — The Oregon State Univer- sity College of Forestry will start a weekly Stay at Home Lecture Series beginning Thursday. Every Thursday at 3 p.m. through May, stu- dents, professors and other researchers will talk about their work on topics and issues across the forest landscape. The fi rst lecture is recreation science in National Parks by Ashley D’Antoniom. D’Antoniom will high- light how the fi eld of rec- reation ecology can shed light on how increased rec- reation is affecting U.S. national parks while also showing how to conserve national parks for future generations. Upcoming lectures include “Uncovering the hidden world of a secretive Visit www.JohnJHoward.com curbside pickup Pet grade CBD oil and treats Organic, raw, and lightly cooked pet foods (406) 380-2729 607 Adams Ave, La Grande OPEN FOR BUSINESS D OWNLOAD OUR APP AT THE A PPLE STORE OR G OOGLE PLAY STORE La Grande Office 1207 Adams Ave., La Grande, OR 97850 541-663-9000 Baker City Office 2195 Main Street, Baker City, OR 97814 541-523-7390 seabird” and “Research/ Curriculum Experiences and Opportunities at OSU: Fulbright Research Scholar Perspectives.” The series also will showcase the Western For- estry Graduate Research Symposium. Each presentation, available via Zoom at no cost, will last 20-30 min- utes followed by a ques- tion-and-answer session. 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