$50 million DC homeowner assistance fund now open to applicants
/by Zach Israel
guest contributor
If you had a problem with paying your rent or mortgage during the pandemic or because of it, DC is offering grants to your mortgage company or landlord to help cover your costs.
On June 14, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) launched a new $50 million homeownership program to provide financial assistance to residents struggling to make housing related payments. Through the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), beginning on June 22, 2022, eligible homeowners can go to haf.dc.gov to apply for grant funding to cover mortgage payments and other property or housing expenses, including utilities, insurance, internet assistance and housing association fees, among other benefits.
The program is aimed at preventing displacement and helping residents hit by pandemic-related hardships, offering up to a total of $120,000 per eligible household. This includes up to $100,000 assistance with past-due mortgage payments, current mortgage payments for up to 3 months, as well as help with homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, and/or housing association fees.
To qualify for assistance, DC households must be at or below 100% of Area Median Income (AMI). That income limit is $99,650 for a one-person household, $113,850 for a two-person household, $128,100 for a three-person household, $142,300 for a four-person household, all the way up to $187,850 for a household of eight. The funding is available in the form of grants, and will be paid directly to lenders and other payees, not to the homeowners themselves.
Applying to the HAF can help stave off foreclosure, however: homeowners who have an application pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal will be protected from foreclosure until September 30, 2022.
Zachary Israel is the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Single Member District 4D04. He wrote the above content for his SMD newsletter, and Petworth News is reprinting it with permission.
