NC Homeowner Assistance Fund: Status, Coverage, and Alternatives

The NC Homeowner Assistance Fund was a $273 million pandemic-relief program that gave North Carolina homeowners grants of up to $40,000 to cover past-due mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, utilities, and related housing costs. It stopped accepting applications in November 2023 and is now closed.¹ Homeowners currently behind on their mortgage should contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, which can help evaluate loan modifications, repayment plans, and other loss mitigation options at no cost.²

Is the Fund Still Open?

No. The North Carolina Homeowner Assistance Fund closed to new applications in November 2023 after serving roughly 18,000 households.³ Most state HAF programs across the country are closed as well, though a handful of jurisdictions including Georgia, Montana, New Jersey, and North Dakota still have open programs. The federal performance period for all HAF awards ends September 30, 2026, and Treasury is running a closeout process.⁴

Where to Get Help Now

If you are behind on mortgage payments or facing foreclosure in North Carolina, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends starting with a HUD-approved housing counselor. Counselors can review your situation, contact your servicer, and walk you through options such as loan modifications or repayment plans, all at no cost.²

Watch for scams. The CFPB warns that legitimate government housing assistance is always free. Be cautious of any company that charges an upfront fee, asks you to sign over your property title, or tells you to stop making mortgage payments.⁵

What the Program Covered

NCHAF was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and administered by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. North Carolina’s share of the federal allocation was $273,337,247.⁶ Grants were non-recourse, meaning homeowners never had to repay them, and funds were sent directly to mortgage servicers, tax offices, insurers, or other payees rather than to the homeowner.³

Eligible expenses included:

Delinquent first or subordinate mortgage payments, including amounts from forbearance periods
Delinquent property taxes to head off tax lien sales
Past-due homeowner’s, flood, or mortgage insurance
Outstanding HOA or condo association dues and liens
Delinquent utility bills, including electric, gas, water, wastewater, and internet
Mortgage principal reduction, down payment assistance loans, and repairs needed for habitability or to clear title issues⁶

The lifetime maximum was $40,000 per household.⁷ For ongoing costs like future mortgage payments, help was capped at three months per expense type but could be renewed in three-month increments while the hardship continued and money remained available.⁶

Who Qualified

To qualify, the property had to be a North Carolina primary residence. The homeowner had to attest to a COVID-19-related financial hardship that began on or after January 21, 2020, and generally had to be at least 30 days past due on a mortgage or other eligible expense.⁷ Household income had to be at or below 150% of the area median income, verified through documents like tax returns, W-2s, or proof of enrollment in programs such as SNAP or Medicaid.⁸

Federal rules required that at least 60% of each state’s HAF allocation go to homeowners at or below 100% of area median income (or 100% of the $79,900 national median, whichever was higher), with remaining funds prioritized for socially disadvantaged individuals as defined by Treasury.⁹ Unlike some state programs, North Carolina did not require homeowners to exhaust loss mitigation options with their servicer before applying.¹⁰

Applicants who were 90 or more days delinquent or facing imminent foreclosure or tax seizure triggered an immediate-threat protocol under which NCHFA asked servicers and other payees to pause pending actions while the application was reviewed.¹⁰

How Many Homeowners the Program Helped

By April 2023, NCHAF had helped more than 10,000 homeowners avoid losing their homes.⁷ By the time it stopped taking applications that November, roughly 18,000 North Carolina households had been served.³ Nationally, HAF programs had distributed $7.7 billion to more than 570,000 homeowners by the end of 2024.¹¹

Don’t Confuse These Similarly Named NC Programs

Two other North Carolina programs have names that sound similar but are unrelated to the pandemic-era Homeowner Assistance Fund.

The Homeownership Assistance Program (HAP), run by the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, provides down payment and closing cost help to first-time homebuyers in 16 eastern counties affected by Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. It is funded through HUD Community Development Block Grant mitigation dollars, not COVID-19 relief.¹²

The North Carolina Homeowners Recovery Fund, administered by the state Licensing Board for General Contractors, is a last-resort fund for homeowners who have suffered financial losses caused by a licensed general contractor’s dishonest or incompetent conduct and have already exhausted other legal remedies.¹³

1
National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA). Homeowner Assistance Fund
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Help for Homeowners
3
NC Attorney General’s Office (NC Pro). NC Homeowner Assistance Fund Prevents Foreclosures
4
U.S. Department of the Treasury. Homeowner Assistance Fund
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Get Homeowner Assistance Fund Help
6
NCHFA. NC HAF Plan Approved by Treasury
7
NCHFA. NC Homeowner Assistance Fund Helps More Than 10,000 Homeowners
8
NCHFA. HAF Summary
9
U.S. Department of the Treasury. HAF Guidance
10
U.S. Department of the Treasury. NC HAF Feedback Document
11
SAM.gov. Homeowner Assistance Fund
12
NC Department of Public Safety. NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency Reopens Homeownership Assistance Program
13
NC Licensing Board for General Contractors. Homeowners Recovery Fund