More eligible for mortgage aid
The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority has sent 121 state homeowners who were financially affected by COVID-19 invitations to apply for foreclosure prevention funds.
The dollars came from the third phase of the state’s Homeowner Assistance Fund pilot program, which is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The U.S. Department of the Treasury is allocating the funds, and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority is managing the state’s program on behalf of the state Department of Housing.
Connecticut distributed about $4.9 million during the first two phases of its pilot program, leaving $7 million for the third phase as well as for start-up costs for the full program. So far, the program has awarded money to 343 applicants, according to data posted online.
“CHFA created a third pilot phase to address the critical need for assistance to homeowners in imminent danger of losing their homes due to a third-party, non-mortgage foreclosure or tax sale,” Nandini Natarajan, the finance authority’s chief executive officer, said in an emailed statement.
Connecticut was among a few states to start a pilot program.
The third phase, unlike initial phases, includes homeowners who risk losing their homes because they fell behind on nonmortgage expenses, including taxes and condominium fees.
Participants identified through a partnership with the Connecticut Fair Housing
Center received invitations to apply, Natarajan said. All three phases included income requirements — for the first phase, it was 80 percent of area median income, but that was raised for later phases to 100 percent of area median income.
The program aims to prevent a wave of foreclosures for homeowners who struggled financially during the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan set aside about $9.9 billion to distribute across states and localities for homeowners aid.
Nearly 26,000 Connecticut residents of owneroccupied housing units were not confident they’d be able to make the next month’s payment, according to Household Pulse Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau released in late October.
In the first year of the pandemic, the government allowed up to 18 months of forbearance, or temporary freezes on mortgage payments. Many foreclosures were also banned federally for several months.
Those options expired earlier this year, and many began exiting forbearance this fall.
Connecticut’s full program, called MyHomeCT, will have about $123 million in aid. The full program is expected to have more participating mortgage companies and higher-income limits than early phases, Natarajan said previously.
It’s not clear when applications will be available. The state has submitted its proposed plan to the federal Treasury Department and is waiting approval. Natarajan said in a previous interview she expected applications to be available in early 2022.