1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Ensuring Homeowner and Occupant Monetary Encouragement and Stability Act or the Ensuring HOMES Act . 2. Treatment of deferred residential mortgage payments (a) In general With respect to any payments of principal or interest on a residential mortgage loan that are deferred during a COVID–19 emergency period (whether pursuant to Federal law or otherwise), the applicable holder or servicer of such loan may not require such payments to be due until the later of— (1) the last day of the loan term; or (2) the end of the deferral period. (b) Rule of construction Nothing in this section may be construed as prohibiting a borrower from making payments on a loan before the date specified under subsection (a). (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Residential mortgage loan The term residential mortgage loan means any loan which is secured by residential real property designed principally for the occupancy of families, regardless of the number of families by which the real property is designed to be occupied. (2) COVID–19 emergency period The term COVID–19 emergency period means the period that— (A) begins upon a date that the President declares an emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic