1
1
___________________________________ 2
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 3
4
5
6
7
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 8
9
___________ 10
11
12
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 13
14
__________________ 15
16
17
18
To declare the existence of an emergency, with respect to congressional review, with respect to 19
the need to continue foreclosure protections for homeowners who applied for funding from 20
the DC Homeowner Assistance Fund program before September 30, 2022 and whose 21
application remains under review, pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal, 22
and to require notices continue to be sent to homeowners informing them of the DC HAF 23
program prior to a foreclosure action. 24
25
RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 26
resolution may be cited as the “Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund 27
Coordination Congressional Review Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2023.” 28
Sec. 2. (a) There exists an immediate need to continue pandemic-related foreclosure 29
moratorium for certain homeowners who applied for funding from the DC Homeowner 30
Assistance Fund (“DC HAF”) program before September 30, 2022, and whose application 31
remains under review, pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal, and to require 32
regular application status updates be provided to those homeowners until their applications are 33
resolved. 34
(b) The District received $50 million in federal assistance through the American Rescue 35
Plan Act to assist low- and moderate-income homeowners who experienced new or exacerbated 36 2
financial hardships as a result of the pandemic and, in June, the Department of Housing and 37
Community Development (“DHCD”) opened applications for DC’s Homeowner Assistance 38
Fund program. 39
(c) In June 2022, the Council extended the pandemic-related foreclosure moratorium to 40
align with the opening of the DC HAF program and required homeowners to submit an 41
application for DC HAF assistance to cure housing debts by September 30, 2022 in order to 42
remain eligible for foreclosure protections beyond that initial deadline; as of September 30, 43
2022, DHCD had approximately 1,000 applications under review and awaiting potential payment 44
necessitating the Council to extend the foreclosure moratorium protections previously guaranteed 45
to those homeowners who met the September 30, 2022 deadline for their DC HAF applications. 46
(d) The Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund Coordination 47
Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 was passed November 1, 2022 and is set to expire February 48
20, 2023. 49
(e) The Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund Coordination 50
Temporary Amendment Act of 2022, passed November 15, 2022, is not projected to become law 51
until March 8 due to delays in congressional transmittals at the change of sessions. 52
(f) A congressional review emergency is necessary to prevent a gap in the law and protect 53
homeowners from foreclosures as they continue to await approvals and payments from DHCD. 54
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 55
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 56
Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund Coordination Emergency 57
Amendment Act of 2022 should be adopted after a single reading. 58
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 59