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Seniors, homeowners say federal HAF payments delayed for years; Legal advocates urge faster payouts
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Summary
Homeowner Assistance Fund recipients and legal aid groups told the Committee on Housing that federal HAF funds intended to prevent foreclosures have been slow to reach approved households — in some cases taking years — and urged DHCD to speed payments and publish clear timelines.
At a March 3 Committee on Housing oversight hearing, senior homeowners and legal aid attorneys urged quicker payments from the District's Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), saying approved applicants have waited years for funds meant to prevent foreclosure. Legal Aid DC and Legal Counsel for the Elderly told the committee that inconsistent communications and long processing delays are leaving homeowners in limbo.
Legal Aid DC senior staff attorney Johanna Schmidt told the committee the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) must "use all of these funds as quickly as possible," noting that the District received $50,000,000 in federal HAF funds and that DHCD told the council it had “spent or allocated $40,100,000 of the program’s allocated federal grant,” leaving an unclear balance. Schmidt asked the agency to publish how many already-approved applicants still await payment and how much additional funding would be required to pay all approved cases.
Legal Counsel for the Elderly manager Deborah Cuevas Hill described client experiences in which approvals were followed by long waits for payment. "We want to especially draw the council's attention to a set of homeowners who were approved under the program as far back as 2022 and are still awaiting payment," she said, and asked the committee to press DHCD for counts and timelines for paying approved cases.
Independent witnesses described long personal waits. Lula Barnes, a Ward 4 resident who said she applied in September 2022, told the committee she "waited to get help...Around 845 days, I waited to get help" and only received payment in January 2025. Barnes said the uncertainty and delay caused severe financial and emotional stress.
DHCD Director Colleen Green told the committee HAF had spent or allocated most of the federal award and that some approved cases remain in process while the department coordinates payments with vendors (for example, mortgage servicers or condominium associations). Green said roughly 35 approved applicants remain in a payment queue that DHCD is actively trying to clear and that the program closed to new applicants on June 30, 2024. She told the committee that, once vendors are set up and paperwork is in order, payments typically take 60–90 days to disburse.
Legal advocates urged more transparent communications to homeowners while DHCD winds down the federal program: schedule-based notices to applicants about payment prospects; a published accounting of approved-but-unpaid cases; and a plan for how the District would handle homeowners still in active foreclosure after federal funds are exhausted. Several witnesses also asked the council to consider a locally funded or recurring foreclosure-prevention program to fill gaps after HAF funds run out.
The committee asked DHCD for a detailed accounting of approved-but-unpaid cases, the amounts needed to complete payments, and a timeline for clearing the remaining payments. DHCD said it would provide updated counts and described efforts to partner with mortgage servicers and community organizations to speed payouts.
Ending: Committee members said they would follow up with the agency and, if necessary, use budget or oversight tools to ensure approvals translate into payments. Several council members stressed that even if federal funds are exhausted, the District has an interest in preventing avoidable foreclosures and will consider options to cover gaps once DHCD produces a full accounting.
