ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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A RESOLUTION
25-220
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
July 11, 2023
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to continue foreclosure
protections for homeowners who applied for funding from the DC Homeowner
Assistance Fund (“DC HAF") program before September 30, 2022 and whose
applications remain under review, pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal,
and to require that notices continue to be sent to homeowners informing them of the DC
HAF program before a foreclosure action.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund
Coordination Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2023”.
Sec. 2. (a) There exists an immediate need to continue a foreclosure moratorium for
certain homeowners who applied for COVID pandemic-related funding from the DC
Homeowner Assistance Fund (“DC HAF”) program before September 30, 2022, and whose
applications remain under review, pending approval, pending payment, or under appeal, and to
require regular application status updates be provided to those homeowners until their
applications are resolved.
(b) The District received $50 million in federal assistance through the American Rescue
Plan Act to assist low- and moderate-income homeowners who experienced new or exacerbated
financial hardships as a result of the pandemic and, in June 2022, the Department of Housing and
Community Development (“DHCD”) opened applications for DC’s Homeowner Assistance
Fund (“DC HAF”) program.
(c) In June 2022, the Council extended the pandemic-related foreclosure moratorium to
align with the opening of the DC HAF program and required homeowners to submit an
application for DC HAF assistance to cure housing debts by September 30, 2022, to remain
eligible for foreclosure protections beyond that initial deadline.
(d) As of June 30, 2023, DHCD had approved 1,048 DC HAF applications but 400
applications were still under review and awaiting potential payment, necessitating an extension
of the foreclosure moratorium protections previously guaranteed to those homeowners who met
the September 30, 2022, deadline for their DC HAF applications. DHCD explains that the ENROLLED ORIGINAL
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reasons for delays in processing DC HAF applications and providing payments include
applicants’ complex requests for assistance with multiple obligations, applicants’ revisions to
applications, financers’ need to register with DHCD, and financers’ need to verify payment
details.
(e) The Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner Assistance Fund Coordination
Temporary Amendment Act of 2022, effective February 23, 2023 (D.C. Law 24-276; 69 DCR
15121), is scheduled to expire on October 6, 2023.
(f) Emergency legislation is necessary to prevent any potential gap in the law and protect
homeowners from foreclosures as they continue to await approvals and payments from DHCD.
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute
emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Foreclosure Moratorium and Homeowner
Assistance Fund Coordination Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 be adopted after a single
reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.