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The New York Homeowner Assistance Fund (NYS HAF) is no longer accepting applications. What are other options?
Deadline to apply for Community-Based Long Term Care without a lookback period is quickly approaching!
March 23, 2022NSLS Welcomes New Team Members
March 23, 2022The New York Homeowner Assistance Fund (NYS HAF) is no longer accepting applications. However, applicants can put their name on a waiting list. The New York State Homeowner Assistance Fund is a federally funded program dedicated to assisting homeowners who are at risk of default, foreclosure, or displacement as a result of a financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible as they are processed in the order in which they were received. To apply, go to https://www.nyhomeownerfund.org/ or call 1-844-77-NYHAF (1-844-776-9423). Please see information below regarding our “Post Moratorium Foreclosure Options” training on March 31st.
If you are falling behind on your payments, contact your lender or mortgage servicer immediately. The servicer is not necessarily the bank you took a loan from; it’s the financial institution that sends your monthly mortgage bill. Tell them why you are unable to make payments, and that you would like to review your options around forbearance. The servicer may offer several of the following options:
- Reinstatement — You repay the full amount of your deferred payments in one lump sum in the near future, and resume your regular mortgage payments.
- Repayment — Your servicer would add the amount of your suspended payments onto your current monthly payment. This means that your monthly payments will increase until the balance has been paid.
- Loan modification — Ask if your loan is eligible for reduced monthly payments. Your mortgage term would be longer, but your monthly payments would be lower.
- Payment deferral — If you cannot resume regular payments, you may be able to defer missed payments. In this case, you would not pay the missed payments until the end of your loan term or when your home is sold or refinanced.
- Extended loan term — Your servicer may agree to extend your loan term by spreading out your payments.
Nassau Suffolk Law Services assists eligible homeowners to prevent foreclosure, through loss mitigation options and/or legal challenges by providing: advice and counsel, limited assistance at settlement conferences, pro-se pleadings and motions, full representation, and possible appeals, and/or help with loan modification paperwork. Suffolk residents can call 631-232-2400. Nassau residents can call 516-292-8100.