Question: Regarding federal pandemic aid for mortgages, are white people even allowed to apply? Has the money all been given out? I was furloughed, fell behind on our house payment and am trying to catch up. I meet the income cutoff even though I am working again, but is it worth to apply since I am not in a preferred racial group?
Answer: You are referring to the Oahu Homeowner Assistance Fund, which launched in late January to provide a total of $30 million in mortgage and utility relief to eligible Oahu homeowners hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by federal pandemic aid to the state government, the Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corp. hired the nonprofit Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement to administer the program. Kokua Line received questions or complaints from readers who said the application website left them thinking the program was limited to 1,000 applicants from “socially disadvantaged” racial groups that excluded Caucasians.
To answer your questions, yes, white people can apply, and no, not all the money has been dispersed. In fact, none of it had been as of Friday, although 926 applications were in various stages of evaluation. Applications will pause when that number reaches 1,000.
Here are details from Gordon Y.K. Pang, an HHFDC spokesman:
Q: Is funding from the Oahu Homeowner Assistance Fund limited to 1,000 applicants?
A: “No. Due to limited funding and a maximum assistance amount of $30,000 per applicant, CNHA is taking a conservative approach for taking in applications by limiting the first round of applications to be accepted at 1,000. CNHA will temporarily close the application portal once 1,000 applications have been submitted and/or drafted. The temporary portal closure will allow CNHA time to follow up with draft applicants to complete them or remove them from the queue as well as make eligibility determinations for completed applications. After CNHA completes this process, the application portal will be reopened. The timeline and duration for temporarily closing the portal have yet to be determined. Consequently, interested homeowners are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.”
Q: How many people have applied already?
A: “CNHA reported that as of Friday, 398 completed applications were received. An additional 528 draft or partially completed applications are in the portal. Both the completed and partially completed applications are included in the count of 1,000 applications.”
Q: Of those, how many have received funding?
A: “As of Friday, no applicant has yet received funding. The applications are being verified for eligibility.”
Q: Are people outside the “socially disadvantaged” groups listed allowed to receive this aid?
A: “Yes. U.S. Department of Treasury’s latest guidelines state that no less than 60% of the funding be distributed to those homeowners having incomes equal to or less than 100% area median income. Those who fall under the category of ‘socially disadvantaged’ are the second priority group.”
Q: Specifically, are Caucasians allowed to receive this funding? The “socially disadvantaged” group list numerous races, but not Caucasians.
A: “Yes, Caucasians are allowed to receive aid from this program. Please also see the response to (the previous question), regarding the federally established guidelines for priority groups. Those applicants with incomes equal to or less than 100% AMI are the first priority group and therefore meet the eligibility requirements to receive funds, regardless of race.”
The program’s website was updated after we submitted questions Friday, making this clear.
Homeowner Assistance Funds were launched on all islands. Eligible homeowners should apply according to their county of residence:
>> Honolulu County: hawaiiancouncil.org/ oahuhome
>> Hawaii County and Kauai County: hawaii communitylending.com/grants-loans
>> Maui County: meoinc.org
Income and other eligibility requirements are listed on the websites.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
