HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency announced the Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund will reopen Monday to homeowners struggling as a result of pandemic-related financial hardships.
PAHAF provides financial assistance to eligible homeowners for mortgage and housing-related expenses to address delinquency and avoid default, foreclosure or displacement from their homes.
Dan Wertz, administrator of McKean County Department of Human Services, said, “According to PHFA’s dashboard, as of March 7, 55 households in McKean County have been assisted with $399,000.”
Since February 2023, there has been a pause on new applications in effect to allow PHFA to focus on a backlog of applicants as a priority. Now that a majority of pending applications have been processed and an assessment of remaining funds has been made, PHFA is able to reopen the program to eligible new applicants until the remaining monies are exhausted.
Pennsylvania was awarded $350 million for the administration of the program and the disbursement of funds as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. As of March 7, more than 15,500 Pennsylvania households have received over $205 million, with approximately $92 million remaining.
There is approximately $42 million encumbered to complete the processing of the pending applications that were transitioned. PHFA estimates that $48 to $50 million in remaining PAHAF funds will be available to eligible new applicants for pandemic-related mortgage reinstatement, forward mortgage assistance, tax assistance and delinquent utility bills.
Funds will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible new applicants with priority given to homeowners facing an imminent adverse action (IAA) such as a notice of foreclosure, sheriff sale or utility shut-off notice. Applicants should understand that submitting an application does not guarantee funding. PHFA has encumbered adequate funds to process the remaining pending applications.
Interested Pennsylvania homeowners should visit www.pahaf.org for more information, eligibility requirements and instructions on how to submit an application. For more information, contact the dedicated PAHAF Call Center at (888) 987-2423 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
PHFA is working with its broad network of mortgage lenders, community partners and housing counseling agencies to help notify likely new applicants.
The PAHAF website features a regularly updated dashboard that displays the status of the program by county, including applications submitted, number of households assisted and total disbursements made to date. The amount of money remaining in the fund will be updated weekly.
