The Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) was established under section 3206 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to mitigate financial hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The Commonwealth is eligible to receive approximately $178 million in HAF funding to prevent homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, and displacements of homeowners experiencing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic.
To receive the full amount of HAF funds, the Commonwealth must develop and submit a plan for its use of HAF funding, and this plan must be approved by the United States Department of the Treasury. The HAF plan is intended to describe the needs of homeowners in Massachusetts, the design of programs, performance goals, and readiness to implement the programs. Treasury encourages states to post draft HAF plans for public comment and hold public hearings.
Public Hearing
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seeking public input on a draft framework to implement the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) created by the American Rescue Plan Act. Public feedback on the draft implementation framework will inform the final HAF implementation plan that must be submitted to the United States Department of the Treasury to access HAF funding. The final implementation plan is due to Treasury by June 30, 2021. A draft implementation framework is available for review.
A public hearing was held on June 16th. If you would like to submit written comments, you may do so here.
Public notice and additional details on the hearing are posted here.