Governor Philip D. Murphy and Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver announced recently the upcoming launch of the Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance Program (ERMA) on February 8, 2022. This program – financed by the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) –provides up to $35,000 in assistance to cover mortgage arrearages and other housing cost delinquencies for eligible homeowners negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The ERMA application portal opens on Tuesday, February 8 at 9 AM. Access the application portal at https://njerma.com.
- Free housing counseling is available to assist with applications. Find a participating counselor here.
- Contact (855) 647-7700 or HAFservicing@njhmfa.gov for additional support.
To qualify for the ERMA program, homeowners must meet the following requirements:
- Be a New Jersey homeowner with a demonstrated COVID-19 related financial hardship occurring after January 20, 2020;
- Own and occupy an eligible primary residence;
- Have an income at or below 150% of their county’s Area Median Income (AMI).
Once the ERMA portal opens, you will be able to submit an ERMA application using a personal computer, laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Housing counselors are available NOW to assist homeowners that need help understanding all available options and through the application process once it opens.
On January 11, 2002,the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) has received U.S. Treasury approval of our Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) program, and the NJHMFA Governing Board has also approved the program. NJHMFA is taking the following steps in anticipation of full program launch during the first quarter of 2022:
- Receiving the full funding allocation in January 2022.
- Hired sufficient staff for program launch. They are now trained on programs and systems. New program staffing will add ~10 jobs to the local economy for NJ residents for 3-4 years.
- Retained housing counseling agencies to support the program statewide. Click here to find a counselor that is working with NJHMFA on the ERMA program under HAF.
- Established a list of the documents that applicants will likely need to submit to NJHMFA in their application for ERMA assistance. Please review and start to gather these documents now so you can quickly and efficiently apply once the program opens.
- Established a web and outreach presence to communicate with interested parties.
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