by Brent Addleman
A federally funded program designed to assist Connecticut homeowners negatively impacted by COVID-19 is now available, Gov. Ned Lamont said.
The governor announced MyHomeCT, a new state program, is funded with $123 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars that were received by the state’s Department of Housing. The program is being administered by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
“The public health crisis that we’ve experienced over the last two years has had a significant impact on the ability of many homeowners to pay for the costs of their housing, which is why we are dedicating this funding to provide much-needed support,” Lamont said in a release. “Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act and the support of our congressional delegation, MyHomeCT will ease some of the financial burden that homeowners have faced during this pandemic and will help ensure that their housing situation remains stable. I encourage any homeowner who has come across difficult times since the pandemic to learn more about the program and consider applying.”
According to the release, the program will provide grants to homeowners who are having trouble meeting mortgage obligations, or other costs related to housing, and have been negatively impacted financially by the pandemic.
In order to be eligible for the program, according to the release, residents must live in the state and occupy the property they are seeking relief for as a primary residence. Financial hardships must have been experienced by the homeowner after Jan. 21, 2020, or faced a hardship before that date that only compounded the financial difficulties.
According to the release, funding can be used for an owner-occupied, one-to-four room house, condominium, townhouse, or manufactured home.
The assistance can be used, according to the release, for bringing a mortgage current or making future payments. The assistance can also be utilized for other housing costs, including to escrowed real estate taxes, condominium and homeowners’ association fees, nonescrowed homeowners insurance, and municipal tax liens.
However, the limit on grant assistance is $30,000. Payments are made directly to the mortgage services or debt holder, according to the release.
“Due to many unforeseen circumstances, such as job losses or the need to care for loved ones, thousands of Connecticut homeowners are now in the situation where they need assistance or they will be in danger of losing their homes,” Seila Mosquera-Bruno, commissioner of the Department of Housing, said in the release. “The MyHomeCT program will address a great need in our state by providing direct assistance to cure or prevent mortgage delinquencies and pay for other housing related costs.”
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Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist at The Center Square with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.
Photo “Mother Putting Mask on Child” by August de Richelieu.
