CA Homeowner Relief: Mortgage and Tax Payment Support Program

California significantly expanded its homeowner relief program in February 2023, bringing more struggling homeowners into a federally funded effort that delivered grants to cover past-due mortgage payments and delinquent property taxes. The California Mortgage Relief Program, administered by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) and operated in partnership with NeighborWorks, widened eligibility rules and boosted per-household caps to help homeowners who had been left out of earlier rounds.

What the Program Offered After Expansion

After the February 2023 expansion, eligible homeowners could receive:

• Up to $80,000 in total grant assistance per household across multiple types of relief
• Up to $20,000 specifically for delinquent property tax assistance
• Mortgage reinstatement funding to cover past-due payments
• Partial claim and loan deferral payoff support for homeowners who had taken those steps during pandemic forbearance
• Reverse mortgage support for seniors behind on taxes or insurance tied to their reverse mortgages
• PACE loan delinquency assistance for homeowners whose Property Assessed Clean Energy loans had fallen behind

Grants were paid directly to the mortgage servicer, county tax collector, or other housing-related account. The funds did not need to be repaid.

Who Became Newly Eligible

The expansion significantly broadened eligibility. Previously, the program had focused on homeowners with missed mortgage payments on single-family homes. The expansion added:

• Up to four-unit properties, including small multifamily buildings where the owner occupied one unit
• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on eligible properties
• Manufactured homes on permanent foundations
• Condos, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes
• Homeowners without mortgages who had fallen behind only on property taxes

The program also allowed repeat applications up to the $80,000 per-household cap. Homeowners who had received earlier grants but then built up new arrears could reapply, which was critical for families still dealing with long-tail economic fallout from the pandemic.

Who Qualified

Core eligibility rules after the expansion included:

• California homeowner with eligible primary residence
• Missed at least two mortgage payments or at least one property tax payment before March 1, 2023
• Combined household income not more than 150% of area median income
• Financial hardship tied to the pandemic, including job loss, reduced hours, increased expenses, or related situations
• Documented ownership and occupancy of the property

Documentation requirements included mortgage statements or property tax bills showing delinquency, recent pay stubs or tax returns for income verification, identification, and a hardship narrative. Applicants worked through the program's online portal at camortgagerelief.org or with a live call center agent.

Property Tax Relief for Mortgage-Free Owners

One of the most important pieces of the expansion was opening eligibility to homeowners without mortgages. Prior to February 2023, a homeowner who had paid off their mortgage but was behind on property taxes had no path into the program. The expansion created a dedicated property tax track allowing up to $20,000 per household for past-due taxes.

This change particularly helped older homeowners on fixed incomes. A retiree who had paid off their mortgage decades earlier but was struggling to keep up with rising property taxes could now apply, keeping their home out of tax foreclosure proceedings.

Impact of the Program

The California Mortgage Relief Program ultimately assisted more than 37,000 California households and distributed over $907 million in grants, with an average grant of about $24,000 per family. The expansion in 2023 significantly increased program reach, pulling in homeowners who had been ineligible under earlier rules.

For each household, the typical grant covered several months of mortgage arrears plus any tax delinquency that had built up. By paying down the arrears, the program allowed homeowners to resume regular monthly payments without the weight of compounded missed months.

How to Apply While the Program Was Open

The application process involved a few core steps:

1. Homeowners verified eligibility through the program's online tool at camortgagerelief.org.
2. They gathered documentation including mortgage or tax statements, income documents, and hardship narrative.
3. Applications were submitted online or with call center support.
4. Case managers reviewed each application and, when approved, arranged direct payment to the servicer or tax collector.

Most approved applications saw payments process within several weeks, though timing depended on how quickly servicers responded to payoff requests.

After the Program

The California Mortgage Relief Program stopped accepting new applications once funds were committed to pending cases. Homeowners facing current mortgage trouble in California have alternative options:

• Servicer loss mitigation. Federal rules require servicers to offer forbearance, repayment plans, loan modification, and other loss-mitigation tools to borrowers facing hardship.
• HUD-approved housing counseling. Free counseling helps homeowners evaluate options and navigate complicated servicer negotiations.
• CalAssist Mortgage Fund. A newer program funded through the National Mortgage Settlement that provides mortgage assistance to California homeowners affected by declared disasters.
• Legal aid. Some of the legal aid infrastructure built during HAF continues to help homeowners in foreclosure or dealing with the aftermath of missed payments.

The pandemic-era program represented the largest mortgage relief effort California had ever delivered. Its expanded eligibility rules in 2023 set a template for how to design relief programs that reach homeowners across different property types and financial situations — including seniors with paid-off homes who had no other way to catch up on taxes.