The American Rescue Plan (ARP) has assisted renters impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it is also helping mortgagees with its Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF). HAF software can make the whole process easier for both agencies and mortgagees, and Yardi’s integrated Mortgage Relief platform provides just that: a secure, incorruptible solution to check applicant eligibility, view financial data and pay out money efficiently.
The Homeowner Assistance Fund and who it assists
The HAF funds are given out by states and other governmental entities, and may be targeted to cover mortgage payments, utility bills and some types of home maintenance expense. This can be vital in helping homeowners avoid defaulting on their mortgages or facing foreclosure of their homes.
Homeowners may be eligible to receive HAF funding if they suffered financial hardship after January 21, 2020 and are not high income earners. The US Treasury has encouraged states and other territories participating in the HAF scheme to initially target populations considered to need it most. They started with $9.3 billion in March 2021.
Yardi’s new Mortgage Relief platform can help struggling homeowners get funds to navigate pandemic-inflicted hardship
Many struggling homeowners would welcome assistance from the HAF, but only if they can successfully access it. Applying for funding — especially a new type of funding — can be complicated and take time, and here’s where Yardi’s Mortgage Relief platform enters the scene. It is designed to integrate and streamline the whole procedure, including optimization so that it can process applications in weeks rather than months, helping both applicants and any organization which uses it.
We’re excited that this all-in-one solution is implementable now for government agencies as they work to effectively distribute ARP funds,” said Jeff Bischoff, senior director of sales at Yardi. “Mortgage Relief provides a seamless way to collect applications, manage cases, make payments securely and monitor program performance.
Yardi brought a lot of insight to the task from the development of its Rent Relief software, which has been used to manage more than $1 billion in 15 states. The Mortgage Relief portal was in fact created using considerable knowledge about what makes an online service user-friendly, with a clear focus on usability and functionality.
How the Mortgage Relief platform works
An application for financial help from the HAF can be made online with Mortgage Relief by the homeowner, an organization to which they need to pay money, or a proxy. There is also a portal for verifying loan details. Yardi provides a technical support center, accessed by way of a dashboard, which can assist if anything is not clear.
The application is evaluated by case managers to determine the applicant’s eligibility, and it is further assessed by employees at the state level. If the path is then clear for the funding to be given, accounting staff will authorize the transfer of money and the organizations to which it is owed will receive it.
Yardi’s new Homeowner Assistance Fund software should be a great benefit to both pandemic-affected homeowners and their creditors. In its favor is the fact that it follows on from Yardi’s Rent Relief platform, which has already proven itself. And for state agencies which manage these ARP funds, a fully tested off-the-shelf solution is better than having to develop one of their own or create unnecessary paperwork. Yardi has a proud history of making people’s lives easier, both with its software and its charitable ventures, and Mortgage Relief is a timely addition to its range of services.
