ORLANDO, Fla. – At the strike of midnight Saturday, the Department of Economic Opportunity’s successful Homeowner Assistance Program will stop accepting new registrations from Florida homeowners seeking financial help.
Adam Callaway, the DEO’s deputy secretary of strategic business development, told News 6 that the HALF program, which started in February, has already helped nearly 9,000 homeowners statewide, issuing an average of $50,000 per resident.
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“We haven’t run out of funds yet, Callaway said. “We anticipate we will run up against our funding cap, so we have to be careful.”
That cap, issued by the federal government, started at $676 million.
As of Friday, the DEO website reported more than $240 million had been paid to struggling homeowners across the state.
“We are pushing to get folks to register as soon as possible because we do anticipate we are going to hit that funding cap for what would come in before Saturday,” Callaway said.
According to the DEO website, available options for funding include your mortgage, property taxes, utilities, fees, homeowner’s insurance and even the internet.
Callaway told News 6 that eligible Florida homeowners must have experienced a financial hardship after, or that continued after, January 21, 2020, must meet “First Tier” income qualifications and must be a homeowner requesting assistance for your primary residence.
For more information on eligibility and how to register, go to: floridajobs.org. The link includes a video that walks you through the step-by-step process.