There can be a few reasons why you may be having difficulty paying your mortgage payments. Getting a mortgage relief to ease your burden at that point is a Godsend that can help you immensely. If you are having some payment issues, this article presents the best option for you. Mortgage relief, such as the homeowner assistance fund and more, is the answer.

How Does the Homeowner Assistance Fund Work?

The primary purpose of any homeowner assistance fund is to support homeowners having difficulty managing their mortgage expenses. It helps individuals and families from default, and the companies don’t want a foreclosure on any mortgage.

Combining these reasons makes for a compelling reason for the government and lending financial institutions to provide significant relief.

Key Points to Know Regarding Mortgage Relief Program 2023

Here are some key points as a struggling homeowner you should know to avail the homeowner assistance fund.

Suspend Payments – Since the COVID-19 aftermath, if you have had financial issues because of its effects, you can apply for suspending any mortgage loan payments if you qualify. This suspension can go up to 18 months without any fallbacks, which allows you to get back on track. The government approved these legislations under the 2020 CARES Act.

Application Under Schemes – This initial homeowner assistance fund relief is applicable to those individuals who have loans taken under HUD, FHA, USDA, and VA-backed loan programs.

Foreclosure Changes – While some of these moratoriums expired in 2021, you can convert them after that through the forbearance program.

How to Check if Your Loan is Federally Backed?

There are three ways to check if the federal government backs it and can quickly get the relief.

Contacting Mortgage Service

You should check with your service provider or their representative. The law requires them to give you the contact information of your loan owner so you can contact them. Try to get the owner’s phone number, address, email, and other pertinent information.

Checking Online

You can find tons of information online that can help you understand what loan you have. You can also look through certain services, such as Fannie Mae, which have tools to help you with this information.

MERS

If you have a federally backed mortgage, then you should visit the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems website. They will have the information of your loan’s owner.

What's the Current Situation Now that Forbearance Has Ended?

While forbearance was a great relief option for many financially disturbed individuals, there is still hope. The Biden administration recently approved support for this special case. The Biden administration doesn’t want the common folk to go towards foreclosure. Foreclosures would be detrimental to both lenders and customers.

Here are some rules set by this administration.

1. If you have been unable to make a few payments, the lenders must allow you to resume. All those unpaid mortgage installments will now shift to the end of your complete mortgage.
2. Streamlined methods of loan modifications can help you now get support in the shape of lower monthly payments.
3. Homeowners will also have the option to sell houses that they took a loan for to cover the mortgage payments and get benefits out of it.

Best Homeowner Assistance Fund Programs 2023

Here are some great relief programs that you can apply for in 2023.

American Rescue Plan Act

Homeowners can find relief from this fund, which can also help them pay other essential bills such as property taxes and repairs. You can easily get 150% of the average median income particular to your area taken from $10 billion set aside by the government.

Refinancing Mortgage

Many government-backed refinancing schemes come under Streamline Refinance, which may help you get support. Even though the rates might be higher than in previous years, you can now pay them over a long period of time. Thus giving you much-needed relief.

FHA, VA, USDA Streamline Refinancing

Streamline financing is not the typical refinancing and is only available to those who have taken loans from one of these federally backed schemes. These options are highly acceptable to those who are at the moment going underwater with their negative equity. The best thing is that you require much less paperwork than most while getting reasonable interest rates.

Cares Act homeowner assistance fund

Cares Act was approved to provide relief to individuals and business owners who had problems staying afloat due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of this relief, you can get a pause on your mortgage payment starting with five months and, in some cases, up to 15 months.

Before applying for this homeowner assistance fund relief, please check with your broker about the recent protocol for this assistance. So, we can go for forbearance, loan modification, and other great options.

How to Qualify for These Programs

There are some typical requirements for most relief programs, such as showing proof of your hardships. For example, did you lose a job, are disabled, have a significant loss in business, etc, are some of the reasons that can help you in getting a good loan.

No matter the program that you are applying for, the best way is to discuss it with your consultant and do your due diligence. Every lender has its requirements, so it is always good to know more.

Final Thoughts

It is pretty disheartening for individuals who have been going toward foreclosure due to many different reasons. It is not always a good sight when people take up loans to improve their quality of life but now see imminent problems.

In this article, we shared the best solution to these woes in the shape of a homeowner assistance fund so you can get some reprieve from your mortgage issues. Ensure that you have read through the entirety of the article and learned about the best approach to get good relief for your mortgage.