Frequently Asked Questions

See a list of approved mortgage servicers for the Iowa Homeowner Assistance Fund. Eligible homeowners are strongly to encouraged to notify their servicer of a pending application and encourage their participation in the program. Servicers are required to complete program onboarding prior to any assistance being granted.

See a list of HAF participating counties.

1. Homeowners at imminent risk of foreclosure should contact Iowa Mortgage Help (IMH) at: 877.622.4866. IMH offers free, confidential homeowner counseling services and access to legal assistance.
2. Homeowners are strongly encouraged to take the eligibility precheck and if preliminarily eligible, sign-up to receive notification when the program opens for applications.
3. Begin compiling required documentation to be prepared to submit full and complete information once the program opens for applications. Incomplete applications cannot be reviewed and will delay the processing time.
4. Once available, homeowners should apply to the Iowa Homeowner Assistance Fund as soon as possible. Homeowners with a foreclosure pending are prioritized for assistance under the program. Servicers are encouraged to halt foreclosure proceedings once notified of a pending Homeowner Assistance Fund application.

Iowa homeowners may be eligible for assistance under Iowa HAF if they meet the following:

• Have fallen behind on one or more payments: mortgage, contract sale (purchasing a home on contract), manufactured home loan or property taxes.
• Are income eligible (household must earn less than the greater of 150% of the area median income or 100% of the U.S median income)
• Own and occupy their home in Iowa as their primary residence.*
• Household experienced a qualified financial hardship after January 21, 2020, or that began before January 21, 2020, but continued after that date, such as lost income or increased expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Applicants who do not own property but are buying under a legally recorded contract or manufactured lot rent payments are eligible to apply.

Applicants must have missed at least one or more payments since January 21, 2020. These missed payments must be outstanding at the time of application. You will be asked to submit appropriate documentation showing delinquency as part of your application (e.g., mortgage statement, property tax statement, etc.) Eligible expenses for this program include:

• Mortgage Payments
• Manufactured/mobile home purchase loans
• Lot rent payments
• Land contract payments (buying a home under a legally recorded contract)
• Property Taxes
• Eligible homeowner’s insurance – (Homeowner’s hazard, flood, and/or mortgage insurance)
• Homeowner Association Fees

• Single-family (attached or detached) properties
• Condominium units
• 2- to 4-unit property where homeowner is living in one of the units as their primary residence
• Manufactured homes permanently affixed to real property and taxed as real estate
• Mobile homes not permanently affixed to real property

For any of the above property types, the original principal balance of the mortgage must not be more than the conforming loan limit.

Iowa HAF may provide eligible homeowners with up to $25,000 in assistance for eligible past due expenses. Each eligible assistance type must be in arrears at least one full installment payment.

You must have experienced a direct or indirect financial hardship such as a decrease in income or increase in living expenses as of a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This can include but is not limited to job loss, reduction in work hours, increased costs due to childcare, illness, or the need to care for a family member since January 21, 2020. This can include financial hardships that began before January 21, 2020 and continued after that date, but only costs accrued after January 21, 2020 are eligible for HAF assistance.

No. The Iowa HAF program only provides assistance for mortgage and mortgage-related expenses.

No. In order to be eligible for assistance, the homeowner must currently occupy the home as their primary residence.

Yes, Iowa HAF can help with mobile home loan payments for delinquencies related to lot rent and loan payments.

No, the assisted property must be the applicant’s primary residence.

No, Iowa HAF will only cover any arrearage for eligible borrowers after January 21, 2020. However, if you have mortgage delinquencies both prior to and after January 21, 2020, and meet the eligibility criteria, then your post-January 21, 2020 portion of mortgage delinquency may be eligible for assistance.

No. Assistance for future mortgage payments is not available.

No. Program assistance is only available to help homeowners catch up on late payments.

No. homeowners are not eligible for Mortgage Reinstatement assistance if they accept a loss mitigation solution from their servicer that eliminates their past due balance and brings their loan current during the time the Iowa HAF Team is reviewing their application for assistance.

Applicants are encouraged to understand their options prior to signing and accepting loss mitigation.

• An applicant that accepts loss mitigation with their servicer(s) may benefit from a lower payment. The applicant will be responsible for the deferred balance at a later date depending upon the terms of the agreement.
• If an applicant chooses to accept a HAF grant, the Iowa HAF program will pay the delinquency, and the monthly payment and terms of the mortgage will not change. In order to accept Iowa HAF assistance, an applicant MUST withdraw from loss mitigation with the servicer.

A housing counselor may be available to help determine which option is best for the applicant.

Yes, so long as you are otherwise eligible for the program.

Yes, assistance through the program can include a combination of documented late fees and payment assistance, so long as the total assistance per household does not exceed $25,000.

Frequently, a mortgage servicer will collect property tax and insurance payments from the homeowner and maintain them in an “impound” or “escrow” account. An “escrow advance” happens when the mortgage servicer pays additional funds on behalf of the homeowner when there are insufficient funds in the escrow account to satisfy the payment. If eligible for program assistance, escrow advances would be paid to the servicer under the Mortgage Reinstatement Program, not the Property Charge Default Program.

Before a mortgage servicer can receive a payment, they must certify that they will not foreclose on the household for nonpayment for at least 45 days after assistance is received from the Iowa HAF.

Yes. Servicers are required to halt any foreclosure proceedings for 45 days upon notification of conditional approval of an IHAF application. A conditional approval occurs after the review team has completed the initial review of the application and has sent it to the servicer to provide additional information. Applicants are strongly encouraged to notify their servicer upon IHAF application submission.

IFA has contracted with a partner organization to review HAF applications. The application review team will contact applicants to request follow-up information. You may also be contacted by a housing counselor of legal aid representative if your application was referred to counseling prior to being considered for financial assistance through the Iowa HAF.

No, an application is not a guarantee of assistance. Complete applications are reviewed on a first come, first ready to proceed basis. Only fully completed applications that provide all required documentation will be reviewed for eligibility.

Applicants who receive a notice of incomplete application with instructions to provide missing information must successfully provide all necessary information to move their application forward within three attempts of contact by the case review team. If no response is received after three contact attempts, the application will be denied.

Mortgage servicers must also complete the required certification and agree to the terms of assistance. Failure by a mortgage servicer to complete the required certification and agree to the terms of assistance will result in the denial of the application.

After you submit your application, it will be carefully reviewed to see if it meets program eligibility requirements. Application review times can vary based on a number of factors including, incomplete information and servicer response times. If any documents or information is missing from your application, you will be contacted and asked to provide it. Once your application review is completed, you will be notified whether you qualify for program assistance. You may log into the portal at any time to check the status of your application.

Mortgage details must be confirmed with your mortgage servicer; in the event that they are unresponsive, your application cannot be reviewed and considered for assistance.

You will be notified of the ultimate HAF award and a breakdown of how those funds are spent via email or by logging into the application portal. You will not receive money directly. The award will go directly to your mortgage loan servicer who will then apply it to the mortgage loan account on your behalf.

No. Homeowners who have already received HAF assistance cannot reapply for assistance.

If you believe that your application was denied in error, you may submit an appeal within 30 days of denial by logging into the portal. An appeal must be accompanied by a clearly stated appeal reason, with additional facts or evidence to justify why the homeowner believes there was an error with the denial.

When an appeal is received, the case review team will re-review the application with a focus on the stated appeal reason. The reviewer will determine whether the appeal will be granted or denied. There is no opportunity for a second or subsequent appeal.

See the list of required documents. The types of required documentation will be dependent on the type(s) of assistance requested.

Applicants can log in to check the status of their application.

Once a homeowner’s application is approved, payment is sent directly to the mortgage servicer, property tax authority, insurance company or HOA/condominium association to be applied to the homeowner’s account(s).

No, any assistance received through Iowa HAF will be a grant that the homeowner will not need to repay. Assistance payments will be made directly to the mortgage servicer or applicable property charge payee to bring the homeowner current on their payments.

No, any assistance received through the Iowa HAF Program for assistance with eligible expenses is not considered taxable. Eligible applicants will not be required to pay taxes on qualified assistance received through Iowa HAF.