Breaking: What the COVID Relief Deal Means for You

- December 21, 2020

Congressional leaders on Sunday announced they had finally reached a deal to provide a second round of coronavirus-relief stimulus.

With a vote expected Monday, the $900 billion package will include a direct $600 payment to most Americans and a $300-per-week bonus to unemployment insurance for 11 weeks.

But what, you may ask, will the stimulus package mean for you?

The direct payment will go to adults earning up to $75,000 per year. If the payments follow a similar disbursement as the first direct payment earlier this year, Americans could see checks direct deposited in their accounts as soon as two weeks after the legislation is passed. Though others received their payments much later.

Couples earning $150,000 per year will receive $1,200, while individuals with dependent children will receive $600 for each child. Children 17 or older who are dependents will not be eligible for a payment.

Individuals who make above the $75,000 threshold and below $99,000 — $198,000 for a couple — will receive partial payments, according to CNBC.

Meanwhile, those on unemployment — both state unemployment and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — will receive an extra 11 weeks of benefits. The extension comes as pandemic unemployment was set to expire on December 26.

While many states pay unemployment benefits for 26 weeks, the CARES Act extended benefits by 13 weeks. This latest add-on will bring the extension to 24 weeks.

The legislation will also reinstate the extra unemployment benefit through March 14, though now only $300-per-week, half of the benefit that was provided by the CARES Act earlier this year.

Individuals who have already had their benefits expire should check their state's website for instructions on how to get the extra 11 weeks of assistance — many may reinstate them automatically, though it may take weeks.

"You may have to wait through part of January to get access to benefits that stopped at the end of December," Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst for social insurance at the National Employment Law Project, told the New York Times. "If Congress passes relief, it has historically been structured so that your benefits are restored beginning the date of enactment. So there shouldn't be a gap in your eligibility if that happens, just a gap in when you get paid."

In terms of housing, the new bill extends a moratorium on renter evictions through January 31. The moratorium is an extension of a previous order that protects renters who do not expect to earn more than $99,000 in 2020 or $198,000 for married couples filing joint tax returns and who have experienced a "substantial" loss of household income, a layoff or "extraordinary" out-of-pocket medical expenses.

It would put $25 billion into a rental-assistance fund, which state and local governments would allocate to people to use for past due and future rent or utilities payments.

Under the CARES Act, homeowners facing financial hardship may qualify for a forbearance, which allows for a temporary pause or reduction in federally backed mortgage payments for up to 180 days. After the first 180 days, homeowners can request an extra 180 days. Skipped payments are not forgiven and will eventually require fulfillment.

For loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, there is no specific end date. Regulators are expected to close out the program at a time they find appropriate. For loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, homeowners must contact their servicer and request COVID-19 forbearance before the end of the year.

"We are continuing to assess options related to this deadline date," a spokeswoman for the agency told the Times.

Homeowners with private mortgages are not covered under the same protections. However, a number of providers have offered similar relief.

The agency has a foreclosure and eviction moratorium through December 31, while single-family homeowners with loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be protected from foreclosure through at least the end of January.

Finally, for business owners, the bill will also put $284 billion into Paycheck Protection Program loans, allowing hard-hit small businesses to receive a second round of funding. Those loans can be forgiven.

The legislation would include $20 billion in grants for companies in low-income areas and funds for loans from community-based and minority-owned lenders.