Emergency Homeowners' Loan Program FAQs

No. Homeowners cannot receive assistance under the EHLP while simultaneously participating in another mortgage assistance program.

No. EHLP will only pay a portion of your monthly mortgage, not the entire amount. You are responsible for continuing to pay a portion of your monthly first lien mortgage payment. This homeowner contribution payment will be sent by you to HUD’s authorized representative, the Bank of New York Mellon.

Homeowners will submit Pre-Applicant Screening Worksheets to an EHLP counseling agency, such as MMI, during the open enrollment period, June 20 to July 22, 2011. Homeowners who meet the screening criteria will be entered in a random lottery. Those who are selected through the lottery will be called by their local EHLP housing counseling agency to schedule an appointment to complete the EHLP application packet. Selection in the lottery does not guarantee EHLP assistance. During the appointment, homeowners will be required to submit the specified documentation to support eligibility.

Homeowners will be notified if they were selected in the lottery no later than August 15, 2011.

HUD will determine the amount of your required monthly homeowner contribution payment. Your homeowner contribution payment will be either 31 percent of your current monthly income or $150, whichever amount is greater. For example, if your monthly income is $1,000, you would contribute $310 monthly. EHLP assistance will make up the difference between your monthly contribution and the balance of your monthly mortgage payment. If your mortgage is $900, the EHLP portion would be $590 after your $310 contribution.

No. Those with foreclosure sale dates less than 30 days away will not qualify. Contact a counselor at MMI to discuss other options.

Once your EHLP emergency assistance has ended, no regular monthly payment is due on your EHLP loan. Absent default under the terms of your EHLP loan documents, your outstanding EHLP loan balance will be reduced by 20 percent each year following the date your assistance ended, and until your outstanding balance reaches $0 (approximately five years after your assistance ended).

Approved borrowers will be offered counseling after closing. In a very limited set of circumstances, counseling agencies may seek a hardship exemption from HUD that could reduce your minimum payment requirement.

No. EHLP monthly assistance payments are NOT made to the homeowner. EHLP mortgage assistance payments will be sent to your servicer each month together with your required monthly homeowner contribution payment. You will send your required monthly homeowner contribution payment to HUD’s authorized representative, the Bank of New York Mellon. BNY-Mellon will provide you with a billing statement and payment coupon each month that you receive emergency assistance.

Homeowners that do not receive EHLP emergency assistance may be eligible for other forms of assistance. Contact a counselor at MMI to discuss your options.

To be eligible to receive EHLP emergency assistance, a homeowner must meet certain conditions, including but not limited to:

• Own fee simple title to the mortgaged property; property must be a single-family (one to four- unit), condominium, or cooperative.
• Involuntary unemployment or underemployment due to the economy or a medical condition.
• Current income at least 15 percent less than it was in 2009.
• At least 90 days delinquent on your mortgage.
• Have received a written notice from your mortgage lender/servicer indicating that you are delinquent on your first mortgage payments (also known as a “breach letter”).
• Combined 2009 adjusted gross income of all persons named on your first lien mortgage documents is less-than-or-equal- to $75,000 or 120 percent of the Area Median Income for a household of four people, as determined by HUD.
• The mortgaged property must be your principal residence.
• Everyone named on your first lien mortgage documents must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. noncitizen national, or qualified alien.
• You are not currently in bankruptcy (personal or business). Borrowers that exit bankruptcy prior to submitting a full application are eligible.
• Have no more than two open liens on your home.
• Have no Federal tax lien.
• Not delinquent on any federal debt, including federal student loans. Note that if you are delinquent on a federal student loan if you obtain a deferment, forbearance, or another form of debt relief prior to submitting a full application you are not delinquent on federal debt. See: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/difficulty.jsp
• History of good payment on your mortgage prior to your reduction in income. Specifically, not 60 days late more than one time on your first and/or second mortgage in the 24 months immediately before you became unemployed or underemployed.
• Have flood insurance if your home is in a flood zone.

To see if you qualify for the EHLP, fill out the pre-application worksheet.

June 20, 2011, is when homeowners can start submitting the Pre-Applicant Screening Worksheet. The deadline for worksheet submission is July 27, 2011, so act fast!

The Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) was created to provide emergency mortgage assistance to homeowners who are temporarily and involuntarily unemployed or underemployed due to the economy or a medical condition and are at risk of foreclosure. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act provided $1 billion to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop EHLP.

The Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) can provide eligible homeowners with a zero percent interest, forgivable loan that pays past-due mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes, insurance, attorney fees), as well as a portion of the homeowner’s mortgage payment for up to 24 consecutive months, or up to $50,000, whichever comes first, and provided that certain eligibility requirements are maintained.

The deadline to fill out the EHLP pre-application worksheet is July 27, 2011.

The first step is to fill out the Pre-Applicant Screening Worksheet. The deadline for worksheet submission is July 27, 2011.

No! There is no fee to work with EHLP housing counseling agencies. EHLP documents will only be accepted by approved agencies, such as Money Management International.

No. Due to expected high demand, interested homeowners will complete an EHLP Pre-Applicant Screening Worksheet first. If there are more potentially eligible pre-applicants than funding available, the worksheets will be entered into a lottery. Homeowners will be randomly selected through the lottery and invited to apply for EHLP. Unfortunately, some qualified homeowners will not be selected and some will complete an application but not be approved to receive assistance.

EHLP is offered in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. EHLP is also offered in Puerto Rico.

Homeowners living in states that do not offer EHLP should consider the following options:

• If EHLP is not available in your state, you likely live in one of the states that received program funds through the U.S. Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund program.
• Five states have been approved by HUD to directly administer EHLP funds through their respective state programs. These states include Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Idaho. Information about the state agencies administering EHLP funds in each of these states is available on HUD.gov.
• Contact a housing counselor at MMI for more information about your options. MMI offers a variety of housing services that include foreclosure prevention counseling, reverse mortgage counseling, debt management, and more. Visit our services page to learn more about the services MMI has to offer.
• Determine if your state has a similar mortgage assistance program for unemployed or underemployed homeowners. Contact a counselor at MMI for more information.