THOUSANDS of National Housing Trust (NHT) mortgagors who were given a six-month window to steady themselves after last October’s Hurricane Melissa are being urged to tell the NHT if they need more time before resuming monthly mortgage payments.

“We want for those persons to let us know as early as possible, preferably before May 1, because we don’t want their accounts to go into arrears,” the NHT’s general manager, loan management Dr Suzanne Wynter told the Jamaica Observer’s Real Estate on the Rock.

April 30 is the end of the six-month moratorium made available to mortgagors in the seven parishes most affected by the Category 5 hurricane — St James, Trelawny, Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, St Ann, Manchester, and Hanover.

An additional grace period of three months is being extended to mortgagors whose property is still uninhabitable or severely damaged. There is an automatic extension for mortgagors in NHT schemes in Brompton, St Elizabeth, and Unions Acres in St James, because of the severity of the damage in those developments; but everyone else will need to get in touch with the trust.

“Because we don’t know of their circumstances, they will need to apply. The application is going to be a simple one. There’s nothing much for them to complete, and once they meet the two criteria — it is uninhabitable or the unit remains severely damaged — they, too, will be considered for an automatic extension,” said Wynter.

The form can be accessed via the NHT website and applicants may select a one, two or three-month extension.

“We’re giving them until June 30 to let us know. After June 30, we’re going to make the assumption that there’s no mortgagor out there who is in need of this special extension in their moratorium,” she added.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness spoke about the three-month extension during his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate and the NHT has been sending out e-mails and text messages as a reminder. Speaking with the Sunday Observer last Tuesday, Wynter said, to date, seven mortgagors have asked for an extension.

Using data available up to March 31, she said there were 36,534 NHT mortgage accounts that “were flagged” for the special moratorium announced in November. Some did not take up the offer while others resumed mortgage payments ahead of the initial April 30 deadline.

“Some of them did continue to make payments even during the moratorium. For example, in March, 36 per cent of those accounts on special moratorium reflected payments,” said Wynter.

“The numbers fluctuate month by month. For example, in December it was 40 per cent; in January I think it was 38 per cent. On average, I would say maybe 30 to 36 per cent of persons continue to make their payments,” she added.

For mortgagors who took up the offer of the six-month moratorium, the NHT waived interest charges (if they were not already in the zero per cent bracket) but principal and insurance charges continued to apply.

“We added those unpaid life insurance charges to their principal, and we’re going to recalculate their monthly payment,” explained Wynter.

“As the payments restart, some mortgagors may experience a change in their monthly payment, and we will be sending out formal notification, but the formal notification will be done after the system is updated at the end of April. Until the mortgagors receive that formal letter, we just ask for them to continue to make the pre-moratorium payments,” she added.

For mortgagors whose monthly payments are usually done through automatic salary deductions, Wynter advised that they make their payments if their employer does not do so.

“Sometimes the employers take a while to resume the payment deduction. We don’t want mortgagors’ accounts to go into arrears; so if the employer hasn’t resumed by the end of May, they need to make the payments over the counter,” she stressed.

“Importantly, too, we are encouraging our mortgagors to register for NHT Online, because they will be able to see their new monthly payment online come May 1. If they need any additional information, they can always visit our website and contact the NHT by sending an e-mail to wecare@nht.gov.jm. They can visit us as well; all our branches are open,” Wynter added.

The hurricane upended the lives of many people, some of whom have made little progress in getting back to where they were before it slammed into sections of the country on October 28, 2025. With some businesses still shuttered, some NHT mortgagors are either without an income or earning reduced wages. Some are still awaiting insurance payouts and even those who have the funds available to do repairs struggle to find construction workers and building material. Then there are others who have to juggle repairing their property along with that of their elderly parents.

Wynter stressed that the NHT will make every effort to provide support for mortgagors.

“NHT is all about helping our customers. We intend to hold their hands to the extent that they need help, and we do have our regular special assistance programmes to help them in the event they have circumstances that can be considered under our programmes,” she assured.

“Whether they are unemployed, they are underemployed, [suffering from] illness, or they have other circumstances affecting them, we just need for them to let us know; and let us know early so we can find the best relief for them,” Wynter added.

WYNTER…we want for those persons to let us know as early as possible, preferably before May 1, because we don’t want their accounts to go into arrears