Provided by the Department of Economic Opportunity
If you are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Florida continues to offer help.
The state of Florida continues to help Florida homeowners who have been impacted by the pandemic through no fault of their own.
The state’s next phase of the Homeowner Assistance Fund program, a registration portal for homeowners to begin the first step in determining their eligibility to receive assistance, which went live last week at www.FLHomeownerAssistance.org.
The first phase of the assistance program went live Nov. 8, 2021 and has provided more than $1 million in assistance to 137 Florida homeowners to mitigate financial hardships following the pandemic.
“These funds will help the state’s homeowners become current on their mortgages and other homeowner expenses and will help prepare Florida families for future financial stability,” said Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Secretary Dane Eagle.
Through the program, DEO works with service providers in banking, property insurance, and utilities industries to identify customers who may be eligible to receive assistance. The Fund was created to mitigate financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing homeowners’ mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, and displacement, as well as loss of utilities, home energy services, and insurance.
Florida homeowners who are eligible for the program include those who have experienced a financial hardship after, or that continued after, January 21, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, meet the income qualifications, and are homeowners requesting assistance for their primary residences.
Once a homeowner’s registration has been reviewed and the homeowner is determined as potentially eligible, an email with detailed information will be sent for the homeowner to complete the next step of the application process.
DEO works directly with those homeowners to determine their eligibility for the program and provide assistance. DEO will administer its pilot program concurrently with the statewide Homeowner Assistance Fund program to ensure the Department is able to assist as many homeowners as possible.
Florida is one of 12 states that proactively launched a pilot program while waiting for the U.S. Treasury’s approval of their needs assessments and plan.
