2022 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 8 - Zoning, Planning, Housing and Economic and Community Development
Chapter 134 - Connecticut Housing Finance Authority Act
Section 8-265ff. - Eligibility for emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments. Application for loan. Disclosure of assets by homeowner. Determination of eligibility by the authority.

(a)(1) Any homeowner who is a mortgagor may apply for emergency mortgage assistance payments under sections 8-265cc to 8-265kk, inclusive, if (A) such homeowner (i) has received notice of intent to foreclose as provided in section 8-265ee, (ii) is sixty days or more delinquent on a mortgage, or (iii) anticipates that he or she will be sixty days or more delinquent on a mortgage based on financial hardship beyond such homeowner's control, provided the authority determines that such homeowner will be so delinquent, or (B) the homeowner's mortgage is in forbearance.

(2) Any homeowner may apply for emergency lien assistance payments under sections 8-265cc to 8-265kk, inclusive, if such homeowner (A) has received notice of the lienholder's intent to foreclose the lien, (B) is sixty days or more delinquent on the debt secured by a lien, or (C) anticipates that he or she will be sixty days or more delinquent on the debt secured by a lien based on financial hardship beyond such homeowner's control, provided the authority determines that such homeowner will be so delinquent.

(3) As part of the application process, the authority may refer the applicant to a counseling agency approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(b) If the homeowner applies for emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments under sections 8-265cc to 8-265kk, inclusive, the authority shall, no later than eight business days after the date of receipt of such application, notify all of the mortgagees and lienholders listed on the application holding a mortgage or lien on the homeowner's real property.

(c) The homeowner shall apply for a loan on the form provided by the authority. The homeowner shall complete and sign the application subject to the penalty for false statement under section 53a-157b.

(d) The homeowner shall provide the authority with full disclosure of all assets and liabilities, whether singly or jointly held, and all household income regardless of source. For purposes of this subsection, both of the following are included as assets:

(1) The sum of the household's savings and checking accounts, market value of stocks, bonds and other securities, other capital investments, pensions and retirement funds valued in an amount greater than one hundred thousand dollars, personal property and equity in real property including the subject mortgage or lien property. Income derived from family assets shall be considered as income. Equity is the difference between the market value of the property and the total outstanding principal of any loans secured by the property and other liens.

(2) Lump-sum additions to family assets such as inheritances, capital gains, insurance payments included under health, accident, hazard or workers' compensation policies and settlements, verdicts or awards for personal or property losses or transfer of assets without consideration within one year of the time of application. Pending claims for such items must be identified by the homeowner as contingent assets.

(e) The authority shall make a determination of eligibility for emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments by the date thirty calendar days after the date the homeowner's application is received by the authority. During said thirty-day period no judgment of strict foreclosure or any judgment ordering foreclosure by sale shall be entered in any action for the foreclosure of any mortgage or lien any mortgagee or lienholder holds on the homeowner's real property. No emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments may be provided unless the authority finds that:

(1) The real property securing the mortgage or underlying the lien is residential real property that is the principal residence of the homeowner;

(2) Payments, including amounts for taxes and insurance payments, including mortgage insurance, or for charges, assessments and fees associated with a condominium or common interest community, as such terms are defined in section 47-202, or any combination of such payments, whether or not such payments are made into escrow or impound accounts as reserves, owed by the homeowner under any mortgage or lien on such real property have been delinquent and the mortgagee, taxing authority, unit owners association or lienholder has indicated to the homeowner its intention to foreclose;

(3) The homeowner is a resident of this state and is suffering financial hardship which renders the homeowner unable to correct the delinquency or delinquencies within a reasonable time and make full mortgage payments or payments on the debt secured by the lien. For the purposes of subdivision (7) of this subsection, in order to determine whether the financial hardship is due to circumstances beyond the homeowner's control, the authority may consider information regarding the homeowner's employment, credit history and current and past household income, assets, total debt service, net worth, eligibility for other types of assistance and any other criteria or related factors it deems necessary and relevant;

(4) There is a reasonable prospect that (A) a homeowner who applies for emergency mortgage assistance payments will be able to resume full mortgage payments on the original, modified or refinanced mortgage within sixty months after the beginning of the period in which emergency mortgage assistance payments are provided in accordance with a written plan formulated or approved by the authority and pay the mortgage in full in level monthly payments of principal and interest, subject only to payment changes as provided in the mortgage, by its maturity date, and (B) a homeowner who applies for emergency lien assistance payments will be able to bring the debt underlying the lien current and resume regular payments to the lienholder for the tax, water, assessment or usage charges underlying the lien after payment by the authority of emergency lien assistance payments;

(5) The homeowner has applied to the authority for emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments on an application form prescribed by the authority which includes a financial statement disclosing all assets and liabilities of the homeowner, whether singly or jointly held, and all household income regardless of source;

(6) Based on the financial statement, the homeowner has insufficient household income or net worth to correct the delinquency or delinquencies within a reasonable period of time and make full mortgage payments or regular payments to the lienholder for the tax, water, assessment or usage charges underlying the lien;

(7) There is a reasonable prospect that the homeowner, as determined by the authority, will be able to repay the emergency mortgage or lien assistance within a reasonable amount of time under the terms of section 8-265hh, including through a refinancing of the mortgage, and the authority finds that, except for the current delinquency, any homeowner who is a mortgagor has had a favorable residential mortgage credit history for the previous two years or period of ownership, whichever is less. For the purposes of this subdivision, if a homeowner has been more than thirty days in arrears four or more times on a residential mortgage within the previous year, the homeowner shall be ineligible for emergency mortgage assistance payments unless the homeowner can demonstrate that the prior delinquency was the result of financial hardship due to circumstances beyond the homeowner's control. In making a determination under this subsection, the authority may consider information regarding the structure of the mortgage, its repayment schedule, the length of time the homeowner has lived in his or her home, and any other relevant factors or criteria it deems appropriate;

(8) The mortgagee or lienholder is not otherwise prevented by law from foreclosing upon the mortgage;

(9) The homeowner has not mortgaged the real property for commercial or business purposes;

(10) The homeowner has not previously received emergency mortgage or lien assistance payments from the authority, except that (A) a homeowner who has previously received mortgage assistance payments shall be eligible to reapply for mortgage assistance if the homeowner has reinstated the mortgage and the homeowner is not delinquent for at least six consecutive months immediately following such reinstatement, and (B) a homeowner who has previously received lien assistance payments shall be eligible to reapply for lien assistance if the homeowner has brought the debt underlying the lien current and the homeowner is not delinquent on regular payments to the lienholder for the tax, water, assessment or usage charges underlying the lien for eighteen consecutive months immediately following the date such debt is made current;

(11) The homeowner is not in default under the mortgage except for the monetary delinquency referred to in subdivision (2) of this subsection; and

(12) The homeowner meets such other procedural requirements as the authority may establish, provided the authority shall not prohibit a homeowner from participating in the program solely on the basis that the homeowner received a discharge of debt through a bankruptcy filing and did not reaffirm such debt.

(P.A. 93-414, S. 4, 10; P.A. 94-185, S. 4, 10; P.A. 96-180, S. 12, 166; P.A. 08-176, S. 8; P.A. 09-209, S. 30; 09-219, S. 1; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 127; P.A. 18-126, S. 4; P.A. 21-44, S. 9.)

History: P.A. 93-414 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-185 made technical changes in Subsec. (d), effective June 2, 1994; P.A. 96-180 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing Sec. 53a-157 with Sec. 53a-157b, effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 08-176 substituted in Subsec. (d)(1) “one-to-four family” for “single or two-family” and in Subsec. (d)(5) 60 months for 36 months, in Subsec. (d)(8) added reference to payment “through a refinancing of the mortgage”, changed period for a favorable credit history from 5 to 2 years and changed provision for arrears from 2 or more times within previous 2 years to 4 or more times within previous year, and made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (d), effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 09-209 added new Subsec. (a) re when mortgagor may apply for emergency mortgage assistance payments, redesignated existing Subsecs. (a) to (d) as Subsecs. (b) to (e), and amended redesignated Subsec. (e)(5) by adding “on the original, modified or refinanced mortgage”; P.A. 09-219 changed effective date of P.A. 09-209, S. 30, from October 1, 2009, to July 9, 2009, and applicable to applications for emergency mortgage assistance filed on and after July 1, 2008, effective July 9, 2009; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 amended Subsec. (d)(1) by limiting inclusion as assets of pensions and retirement funds to those valued in an amount greater than $100,000 and amended Subsec. (e) by adding references to condominium charges, assessments and fees, taxing authority and unit owners association, deleting “contractually” and making a technical change in Subdiv. (2), deleting former Subdiv. (3) re mortgage not insured by Federal Housing Administration, redesignating existing Subdivs. (4) to (13) as Subdivs. (3) to (12) and permitting the authority to consider the length of time the mortgagor has lived in the home in redesignated Subdiv. (7), effective June 15, 2012; P.A. 18-126 made a technical change in Subsec. (d)(2); P.A. 21-44 replaced “mortgagor” with “homeowner” and added references to “lien” and “lienholder” in Subsecs. (a) to (d), further amended Subsec. (a) by redesignating existing provision re application for emergency mortgage assistance payments as Subdiv. (1), redesignating existing Subdiv. (1) as Subdiv. (1)(A)(i), redesignating existing Subdivs. (2)(A) and (2)(B) as Subdivs. (1)(A)(ii) and (1)(A)(iii), adding Subdiv. (1)(B) re mortgage forbearance, adding new Subdiv. (2) re application for emergency lien assistance payments and redesignating existing provision re referral to counseling agency as Subdiv. (3), amended Subsec. (e) by replacing “is a one to one-to-four family owner-occupied residence, including, but not limited to, a single family unit in a common interest community” with “or underlying the lien is residential real property that” in Subdiv. (1), adding “or payments on the debt secured by the lien” in Subdiv. (3), designating existing provision in Subdiv. (4) re resumption of mortgage payments as Subpara. (A), adding Subpara. (B) in Subdiv. (4) re reasonable prospect applicant will bring debt underlying the lien current, adding “or regular payments to the lienholder for the tax, water, assessment or usage charges underlying the lien” in Subdiv. (6), replacing “the mortgagor” with “any homeowner who is a mortgagor” in Subdiv. (7), redesignating existing provision in Subdiv. (10) re eligibility to reapply as Subpara. (A), and adding Subpara. (B) re eligibility to reapply for lien assistance, adding provision re bankruptcy filing in Subdiv. (12), and made technical and conforming changes.