If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please visit our Help for Texans Page.
On March 11, 2021, the President of the United States signed the American Rescue Plan Act, which included the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), into law. The State of Texas received $842,214,006 in HAF funds and Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) was designated as the entity to administer the HAF for the state. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) administers HAF.
The purpose of HAF was to prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacement of homeowners experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 after January 21, 2020 and prior to April 10, 2023.
TXHAF funded up to $65,000 per household to assist households with payments for mortgages, property charges, including property taxes, property tax loans, mortgage insurance premiums, hazard insurance premiums, flood or wind insurance premiums, ground rents, condominium fees, cooperative maintenance fees, planned unit development fees, homeowners’ association fees, and/or utilities. The payments may also have included any reasonably required legal fees.
TXHAF was operated by a vendor for the state who established an online portal through which households could request assistance. The vendor and TXHAF coordinated case information with utility providers, participating loan servicers, tax assessors, homeowner associations, and property insurance providers.
If questions or concerns remain on closed applications, please contact: txhaf@tdhca.texas.gov
If you are a veteran homeowner or have a VA loan and are facing foreclosure or struggling with making mortgage payments, please visit VA Housing Assistance | Veterans Affairs
Helping Texans Stay Home: A Look Back at the Texas Homeowner Assistance Program
Program Highlights by the Numbers:
- $739,225,505 in Assistance Paid
- 58,512 Homeowners Assisted
- 239 Counties Represented
- $12,616 Average Assistance Amount
Households Assisted (by Assistance Type):
- 35,179 Mortgages
- 18,961 Property Taxes
- 17,773 Utilities
- 8,150 HOA Fees
- 448 Property Insurance
Outreach
- More than 920,000 households were reached through bilingual (English and Spanish) postcards.
- More than 66,000 radio ads were broadcasted on 138 radio stations across the state, while an additional 1,566 newspaper ads covered 224 counties.
- TexasHomeownerAssistance.com had 3.96 million visits from 1.38 million users, including views of content in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese.
In order to effectively reach and serve eligible homeowners throughout the state, including those in more rural areas and in areas with concentrations of non-traditional mortgage loans, TDHCA contracted with 32 subrecipients to provide application assistance, legal services and/or housing counseling services to program-eligible homeowners.
Of the 32 subrecipients, 25 provided application intake services, 18 provided housing counseling and seven provided legal services. Through 164 physical locations plus virtual and phone options, TXHAF subrecipients served all 254 counties in Texas, including the Persistent Poverty Counties.
Subrecipient Organization Support
- Coverage across all 254 Texas counties
- Operated 176 physical locations across the state
- Many locations offered virtual assistance
- Subrecipients hosted mobile pop-up events within local communities
- Subrecipients hosted 1,676 outreach events
Subrecipient Service Results
- 7,174 applications submitted
- 1,366 households assisted in Persistent Poverty Counties
- 3,235 households received housing counseling services
- 1,406 households received legal services
- 164 foreclosures prevented
TDHCA is grateful for the collaboration from non-profit organizations who provided intake assistance, legal aid providers, housing counseling providers, utility providers, participating loan servicers, tax assessors, homeowner associations, property insurance providers, and elected officials statewide. Without the collaboration from these partners, TXHAF would not have been successful. TDHCA thanks everyone who helped improve and support this unprecedented pandemic homeowner assistance effort.