ENROLLED ORIGINAL
A RESOLUTION
25-542
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
June 25, 2024
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to preserve foreclosure
protections for homeowners who applied for funding from the DC Homeowner Assistance
Fund program before September 30, 2022, and whose applications remain under review,
pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal, and to require notices continue to be
sent to homeowners informing them of the DC HAF program prior to a foreclosure action.
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund
Coordination Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2024.”
Sec. 2. (a) There exists an immediate need to continue a foreclosure moratorium for
certain homeowners who applied for COVID pandemic-related funding from the DC
Homeowner Assistance Fund (“DC HAF”) program before September 30, 2022, and whose
applications remain under review, pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal, and to
require regular application status updates be provided to those homeowners until their
applications are resolved.
(b) The District received $50 million in federal assistance through the American Rescue
Plan Act to assist low- and moderate-income homeowners who experienced new or exacerbated
financial hardships as a result of the pandemic and, in June 2022, the Department of Housing and
Community Development (“DHCD”) opened applications for DC’s Homeowner Assistance
Fund program.
(c) In June 2022, the Council extended the pandemic-related foreclosure moratorium to
align with the opening of the DC HAF program and required homeowners to submit an
application for DC HAF assistance to cure housing debts by September 30, 2022, in order to
remain eligible for foreclosure protections beyond that initial deadline.
(d) DHCD has shared that $43.1 million of the $50 million for DC HAF will go towards
financial assistance for households and $6.9 million will be used to cover the administrative
costs of running the program.
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(e) According to DHCD’s DC HAF dashboard, available at haf.dc.gov, $39.5 million of
the $43.1 million available for assistance had been paid so far, meaning that as of the last day the
dashboard was updated on June 7, 2024, $3.6 million remained in the HAF program.
(f) DHCD’s DC HAF dashboard also shows that as of June 7, 2024, DHCD had approved
1,660 HAF applications, 234 HAF applications were eligible for appeal, and 184 applications
were in process.
(g) Because over 400 applications are still under review or eligible for appeal, the
foreclosure moratorium protection previously guaranteed to homeowners who met the September
30, 2022, deadline for their DC HAF applications is still necessary to ensure those HAF
applicants are protected.
(h) The Committee on Housing has confirmed with legal service providers that DC HAF
applicants awaiting payment continue to rely on this foreclosure protection.
(i) DHCD has shared that DC HAF processing times have been delayed due to financers’
need to register with DHCD, financers’ need to verify payment details, assistance requests for
multiple obligations, and required edits to applications.
(j) The Council passed the Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund
Coordination Temporary Amendment Act of 2022 on November 15, 2022, which expired on
October 6, 2023. The Council then passed the Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowners
Assistance Fund Coordination Emergency Amendment Act of 2023, as well as a corresponding
temporary act that will expire on July 10, 2024.
(k) Emergency legislation is necessary to prevent any potential gap in the law and protect
homeowners from foreclosures as they continue to await approvals and payments from DHCD.
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute
emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner
Assistance Fund Coordination Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 be adopted after a single
reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
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