The Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF): What It Was, Why It's Drying Up, and What to Do Now

If you came here hoping the Homeowner Assistance Fund could pull you back from a foreclosure, you deserve a straight answer before you spend another worried hour on it. For a lot of homeowners, that door is already closed. HAF was a real lifeline for a few years, but it's running out of money state by state, and the whole program has a hard federal end date that's now close. There's some good news underneath all of that: HAF was never the only thing standing between you and losing the house. The protections that actually stop a foreclosure come mostly from your loan itself and from federal servicing rules, and those haven't gone anywhere.

One thing to be clear about up front. This is general information, not legal advice. Foreclosure law, the deadlines that apply to you, and the exact help still available all depend on your state, your loan type, and who services your mortgage. For anything specific to your situation, talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor (free) or a foreclosure-defense attorney before you decide anything.

What HAF actually was

The Homeowner Assistance Fund came out of the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. Congress put roughly $9.96 billion into it, split among the states, D.C., the territories, and tribes, to help homeowners who fell behind because of the pandemic. Each state ran its own version with its own name, its own portal, and its own rules, which is exactly why HAF never felt like one single program. There was no national application. You applied through your own state's housing agency, or you didn't apply at all.

What made HAF different from an ordinary repayment plan was the money. In most cases it was a grant, not a loan. A state program could pay your lender directly, wipe out the past-due mortgage payments, and bring your loan current. Depending on which state you live in, HAF could also cover a few things beyond the mortgage:

• Past-due property taxes and homeowners insurance
• Homeowners association or condo fees that had fallen into arrears
• Utility bills tied to keeping the home, such as electric, gas, and water (sometimes internet)
• Certain other housing costs, and in a handful of states, limited home repairs

To qualify, you generally had to show a financial hardship connected to the pandemic that started after January 21, 2020. The home had to be your primary residence. And your household income had to fall under a cap. The CFPB describes the typical limit as the greater of 150% of your area's median income or $79,900, though every state set its own threshold and some set it lower. The whole point of HAF was straightforward: catch you up so a temporary hardship didn't cost you your house.

Why most state programs are out of money

HAF worked, and that's a big part of why it's gone. Demand was heavy from the day the portals opened. Roughly ten billion dollars spread across the entire country doesn't stretch far when each approved homeowner might draw several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. States burned through their allocations at very different speeds, depending on how large their award was and how many people lined up.

By 2026, the picture is mostly closed doors. Most state HAF programs have spent their funding and stopped taking new applications. A small number of states still had something open in mid-2026, but that list keeps shrinking, and a program that's open this week can post a closing date the next. Some states have shut down their programs in pieces. A few closed the utilities portion while keeping mortgage help open a little longer, or did it the other way around. So even where a program technically still exists, the specific kind of help you need may already be off the table.

If you're going to check, do it today, not next month. And check the real source. Go to your state housing finance agency's official site, or to the program map kept by the National Council of State Housing Agencies at ncsha.org, which is where the CFPB points homeowners. Anything that asks you to pay a fee to apply is not the real HAF. Legitimate HAF help is always free.

The September 2026 sunset

Set the empty accounts aside for a second, because HAF also has a federal expiration baked into it. Treasury set the end of the performance period at September 30, 2026. After that date, programs cannot obligate HAF money for mortgages, utilities, or other qualified costs. There's a short wind-down window afterward (into early 2027) for programs to actually pay out money they already committed before the cutoff, but September 30, 2026 is the real wall for getting newly approved.

Here's what that means in practice for you. Even in a state whose program is still open, your application has to be reviewed, approved, and the funds committed before that deadline. Underwriting takes time. A file you submit in late summer of 2026 might not clear in time, especially as agencies field a last rush of applicants and then start closing out. If HAF really is your best shot, treat it as urgent and don't sit on the paperwork. Just don't pin your foreclosure timeline to it, because approval is never guaranteed, and in many states the money is already spent.

The alternatives that still exist

This is the part that matters most if HAF is closed where you live. The mechanisms that actually keep people in their homes are still fully in force. They come from your loan and from federal mortgage-servicing rules, and none of them depend on a pandemic fund.

The 120-day rule buys you time

Under CFPB servicing rules, your mortgage servicer generally cannot make the first official foreclosure filing until you are more than 120 days delinquent. That roughly four-month window exists for a reason: it's there so you can apply for help before anything gets filed. It is not a grace period to ignore the problem. It's a window to use. If you've missed one or two payments, you very likely still have time to get in front of a counselor and your servicer before the clock runs out.

Loss mitigation through your servicer

When you ask, every servicer is required to evaluate you for options that avoid foreclosure. The industry term for this is loss mitigation. Depending on your loan, it can include a few different routes:

• Forbearance: a temporary pause or reduction in payments while you get through a hardship. The missed amount still has to be dealt with later, but forbearance stops the immediate bleeding.
• Repayment plan: your past-due balance gets spread across your regular payments over a set number of months so you catch up gradually instead of all at once.
• Loan modification: a permanent change to your loan terms (the rate, the length, how the arrears are handled) meant to bring your payment down to something you can actually carry.
• Deferral or partial claim: with many loan types, the missed payments get moved to the back end of the loan, so you resume your normal payment without owing a lump sum right now.

If your loan is backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, FHA, VA, or USDA, there are standardized programs sitting behind each of these options, and your servicer is the one who runs them. The CFPB also notes a useful detail for Fannie and Freddie loans: once your state HAF program notifies your servicer that you've applied, the servicer is generally required to pause foreclosure activity for up to 60 days. That can matter even now if a program is still working through your file.

FHA, VA, and USDA homeowners

Government-backed loans carry their own loss-mitigation rules that have nothing to do with HAF. FHA has a defined menu of options for borrowers who fall behind, and VA and USDA run parallel programs for their loans. You don't need a special fund to reach any of it. You need to call your servicer, and ideally have a housing counselor sitting in your corner when you do.

Watch out for scams as HAF closes

Every time a real relief program winds down, scammers move in to sell access to it. The rules for spotting them are simple, and worth saying plainly. Real HAF help is free. No legitimate program or counselor charges a fee to apply. None of them will ask you to pay an upfront fee, sign over your deed, or send your mortgage payments to them instead of your servicer. If someone guarantees approval, or pressures you to act before you can even talk to a counselor, that's the tell. Stay on .gov sites and stick with HUD-approved counselors.

What to do now

If you're behind or about to be, work this list in order. Speed matters more than getting every step perfect.

• Call a HUD-approved housing counselor today. It's free. They can check whether your state HAF program is still open, line up loss-mitigation options, and negotiate with your servicer on your behalf. Reach one through HUD at (800) 569-4287 or at hud.gov.
• Check your state HAF status at your state housing agency's official site or the NCSHA program map at ncsha.org. If it's open and you qualify, apply now, then tell your servicer you've applied.
• Call your mortgage servicer and ask for loss mitigation in writing. Ask specifically about forbearance, a repayment plan, a modification, or a deferral for your loan type. Keep notes and copies of everything you send and receive.
• Know your foreclosure timeline. The servicer generally can't file until you're more than 120 days behind, but the actual procedures and deadlines vary a lot from state to state. Use our calculators and your state's foreclosure page to see where you stand and how long you realistically have.
• Talk to a foreclosure-defense attorney if a filing has already happened or is close. Many areas have free legal aid for homeowners, and a housing counselor can usually refer you.

Losing HAF is a real setback, and it's fair to be frustrated by it. But it doesn't change the fact that matters most: the tools that stop a foreclosure are still here, and the people who help you use them work for free. The worst move right now is silence. Get a HUD counselor on the phone before the next payment comes due, and put your options on the table while you still have the window to use them.