Today, representatives from Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) announced that troubled homeowners in Lee County who want to apply for financial assistance from the Florida Hardest-Hit Fund (HHF) may now be up to 180 days delinquent on their first mortgage. To date, more than 780 applications have been submitted via the website; applications may only be submitted by homeowners living in Lee County, the pilot site for the program. The online application process opened on Monday, October 25, and will remain open until 1,000 applications are received.
“Since the program opened last month in Lee County, we have seen many applications from homeowners in who are more than 90 days past due with their mortgage payments, yet meet the other qualifications to receive assistance from the HHF,” said Steve Auger, executive director of Florida Housing. “Now that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued written guidance to servicers of their loans to work with state housing finance agencies to accept HHF mortgage payments on behalf of eligible homeowners, we can expand the program to reach more people.”
On October 29, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both issued notices that require servicers to work closely with housing finance agencies (HFAs) that administer mortgage assistance programs (such as HHF) to homeowners who are unemployed/underemployed through no fault of their own. Specifically, servicers have been instructed to accept payments from HFAs, subject to certain limitations, on behalf of homeowners enrolled in programs that provide unemployment mortgage assistance or mortgage reinstatement plans.
Florida Housing has two HHF programs: (1) Unemployment Mortgage Assistance Program (UMAP), which will provide up to 18 months of first mortgage payments directly to the lender on behalf unemployed/underemployed homeowners until they can resume making payments on their own; and (2) Mortgage Loan Reinstatement Payment (MLRP) Program, which will be used to bring a delinquent mortgage current for homeowners who have returned to work or recovered from underemployment.
UMAP and MLRP program funds will be in the form of a 0% percent, deferred-payment loan; the loan can be forgiven over a five-year period, at a rate of 20% each year.
David Westcott, director of Homeownership Programs at Florida Housing, is reminding homeowners in Lee County who thought about applying, but did not because their mortgages are more than 90 days past due, to visit the website and apply for assistance. “Right now, this is the only change we have made to the eligibility requirements for the HHF program, but we think it will make a world of difference,” he said. “We encourage homeowners to visit the website, review the program and its requirements, and apply. There is still time.”
To apply for financial assistance from the fund, homeowners will need to log onto the website www.FLHardestHitHelp.org, the official site for Florida HHF. The site contains all the information users will need to begin the application process, including a program fact sheet, answers to frequently asked questions and links to resources that may be helpful to those experiencing economic challenges.
First announced on February 19 by the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury), the “Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Innovation Fund for the Hardest-Hit Housing Markets” (HFA Hardest-Hit Fund) provides federal funding to states hardest hit by the aftermath of the burst of the housing bubble. To date, $7.6 billion has been infused into the HFA Hardest-Hit Fund for 18 states and the District of Columbia; Florida’s total allocation currently stands at $1 billion. The goal is to help them sustain and keep their homes, ultimately, to avoid foreclosure.
