The
state
of

California
is
maintaining
its
mortgage
relief
program
funded
by
the
2021
American
Rescue
Plan,
which
includes
assistance
for
reverse
mortgage
borrowers.
But
the
funding
is
running
low
and
could
soon
be
exhausted
soon,
according
to
estimates
from
state
housing
officials

as
reported
by
the
Los
Angeles
Times.

After

extending
availability
for
the
program
to
more
qualified
recipients
in
February,
officials
now
warn
that
those
who
could
benefit
from
the
financial
assistance
—
designed
primarily
as
an
option
for
homeowners
who
were
financially
impacted
by
the
COVID-19
pandemic
—
will
need
to
act
quickly
if
they
want
help.

A
tally
on
the
program’s

official
website
shows
that
more
than
$823
million
of
the
original
$1
billion
allocation
to
California
has
been
used
and
the
remaining
$177
million
could
evaporate
within
the
next
couple
of
months.

“When
you
look
at
who
received
those
funds,
it’s
been
a
real
success,”
Rebecca
Franklin,
president
of
the

California
Housing
Finance
Agency’s
Homeowner
Relief
Corp.,
told
the
Times,
adding
that
“we
really
were
successful
at
getting
the
money
to
those
populations
who
really
were
hit
harder
by
the
pandemic.”

The
average
amount
of
assistance
provided
by
the
program
stands
at
just
over
$24,000
per
household,
and
grants
have
been
issued
to
more
than
33,000
households
across
the
state.
The
program
rolled
out
in
California

in
late
2021.

The
federally
created
Homeowner
Assistance
Fund
(HAF)
is
available
to
all
borrowers,
including
reverse
mortgage
holders,
in
an
effort
to
keep
them
compliant
with
their
loan
obligations,
which
was
explained
to
RMD
in
early
2021
by
Biden
administration
officials.

“The
Homeowner
Assistance
Fund
would
be
a
way
in
which
to
provision
funds
to
help
homeowners,
including
seniors
with
[Home
Equity
Conversion
Mortgage
(HECM)s],
that
may
have
back
tax
or
insurance
payments
that
need
to
be
made
due
to
hardships
related
to
the
pandemic,”
an
administration
official

told
RMD
in
February
2021.
“And
that
would
be
one
of
the
measures
in
which
seniors
and
the
HECM
portfolio
can
be
addressed.”

But
for
forward
and
reverse
mortgage
borrowers
across
the
board,
the
HAF
has
had
challenges
reaching
full
deployment
nationwide.
Last
month’s
effort
in
California
to
expand
the
base
of
qualified
beneficiaries
was
partially
done
to
get
more
aid
to
homeowners
faster,
since
there
has
been
an

awareness
problem
across
the
country.

This
has
been
particularly
true
of
potential
reverse
mortgage
beneficiaries.
HECM
servicing
professionals
explained
at
reverse
mortgage
industry
events
that
there
have
been
difficulties
in
making
reverse
mortgage
borrowers
aware
of
the
available
funding
—
which
is
overseen
by
individual
states
—
and
had

requested
the
help
of
loan
originators
to
get
the
word
out
to
their
clients.

Related