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In early 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. This law created a Homeowner Assistance Fund, a federal program, to give around $10 billion to the states to help households that are behind on their mortgages and other housing expenses due to COVID-19. Eligible homeowners in Idaho who've experienced a financial hardship because of COVID-19 can get a portion of the approximately $72 million allocated to the state—up to $50,000 per household—by applying to Idaho's Homeowner Assistance Fund program. This program uses federal money to help homeowners pay past-due mortgage payments and other housing-related costs.
You can use money from the Idaho Homeowner Assistance Fund program to pay:
If you have a reverse mortgage, you might qualify for assistance to pay delinquent property taxes, insurance, or utilities.
To qualify for relief from this program, you must have suffered a financial hardship (a material reduction in income or an increase in living expenses) after January 21, 2020, because of COVID-19. You also have to meet these guidelines.
Homeowner assistance programs and requirements change often, and not all lenders and servicers participate. Check Idaho's official Homeowner Assistance Fund website for the most recent information and eligibility requirements.
Assistance is in the form of an interest-free loan. The loan must be repaid when you sell or transfer the home's ownership. The loan will be forgiven if the net proceeds from a sale don't cover the assistance amount received. And the loan might be forgivable after 10 years.
Payments from the program go directly to the loan servicer or other approved entity, not to homeowners.
Go the Idaho Homeowner Assistance Fund website to apply. You'll have to provide some documentation with your application, like mortgage statements, proof of income (such as pay stubs or tax returns), and a government-issued ID (like a driver's license).
Be wary if you get an unsolicited offer by phone, mail, email, or text message offering mortgage relief or foreclosure rescue services. Scammers sometimes target homeowners who've been affected by COVID-19.
Homeowner Assistance Fund programs are free. If anyone asks you to pay a fee to get housing counseling or to receive foreclosure prevention services from this program, it's a scam.
If you need help with the application process or have questions about Idaho's Homeowner Assistance Fund program, call 877-695-2655 or go to the Idaho Housing and Finance Association's "Free housing advice" website to make an appointment to talk to a housing advisor.
You may also get help by going to HUD's website or calling 800-569-4287 to contact a housing counselor. A HUD-approved housing counselor will assist you at no cost.
Even if a foreclosure has started, you might still have time to get assistance from Idaho's Homeowner Assistance Fund program. If you have a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan and your loan servicer learns that you've applied to a Homeowner Assistance Fund program, the servicer must suspend foreclosure activities for up to 60 days.
Also, you might have time to work out an alternative to foreclosure with your loan servicer. If you're behind in your mortgage payments, contact your servicer to discuss available options.
If you have questions about the foreclosure process in Idaho or want to learn about potential defenses to a foreclosure, consider talking to a foreclosure lawyer