Mortgage moratorium coming to an end; How to get relief money

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Homeowners who can’t make their mortgage payments could see some federal relief. But with the foreclosures moratorium set to end later this month, many are worried that they could be in jeopardy of losing their home.

Over 65% of Louisianians are homeowners according to the Governor’s Office, but many struggled to make monthly payments during the pandemic. The mortgage moratorium gave homeowners protection, that ends on July 31st, prompting the Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Fund to draft a plan to get money in their pockets.

The mortgage assistance program could give homeowners up to $10,000 in relief funding.

“That is subject to change,” said Gina Campo, Deputy Executive Director Louisiana’s Office of Community Development. “We felt like the $10,000 was a good landing spot and that covered over 90% of the population based on the numbers that we have right now.”

The state has until July 31 to submit a plan to the US Treasury, that’s the same day the mortgage moratorium ends, leaving many wondering if they can get the money fast enough.

“That’s certainly our goal,” Campo said. “We are making every effort upon approval by the treasury of our plan which they do have to approve it in order for us to start drawing down those funds that are available… we are making every effort to be able to launch as soon as we get that approval.”

But it is unclear when the US Treasury will approve the plan.

“They have not provided any guidelines to say it’s going to take us five days, ten days 30 days, um, unknown,” Campo said.

The draft is posted online now, and they want to hear from you. You can submit your feedback on the Office of Community Development’s website.