VHFA News

By: Leslie Black-Plumeau

VHFA will be hosting two public meetings on June 1 and June 3 to discuss how to use federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to serve Vermont homeowners. The Homeowners Assistance Fund, created by the act, will provide Vermont up to $50 million over the next 3 years to provide assistance for mortgage payments and other expenses troubling homeowners with pandemic-related hardship.

Meetings will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at noon and Thursday, June 3, 2021, at 5 PM (meeting hyperlinks and call-in phone numbers below).  VHFA will use community input from these meetings to help design programs targeted to homeowners with incomes at or below the area median and to socially disadvantaged homeowners.  

  • June 1, 2021, at noon (Zoom link, phone: 1 646 558 8656, Meeting ID: 823 1904 3306, Passcode: 249700)
  • June 3, 2021, at 5 PM (Zoom link, phone: 1 646 558 8656, Meeting ID: 840 6637 6072, Passcode: 320648)

A third public meeting to review the program design will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at noon via Zoom.  For the latest program materials and updates, please check the Homeowner Assistance Fund area of our website.

Through the shorter-term Vermont COVID Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program started in July 2020 and ending in 2021, VHFA has provided 725 households across the state with grants for up to 12 months of back mortgage payments and property taxes. Currently accepting applications, the program is administered by VHFA but is open to all eligible homeowners regardless of loan servicer. Homeowners with pandemic-related hardship and back mortgage payments or property taxes can learn more and apply at www.vhfa.org/map or by calling (888) 714-2260.