What is Forbearance?
Forbearance is a temporary agreement in which a lender lets a borrower pause or reduce payments during a hardship such as job loss or medical emergency. It does not erase the debt — the skipped amounts must still be repaid later through a lump sum, a repayment plan, or by adding them to the loan. It is short-term relief, not forgiveness.
Example: A homeowner loses income for three months and the lender grants a forbearance pausing payments. When work resumes, the missed payments are spread over the next year on top of the regular payments.