CalHFA board approves expansion of Cal Assist mortgage relief, including up to 12 months of aid

The California Housing Finance Agency on Jan. 22 approved a package of changes to its Cal Assist Mortgage Fund that will let staff extend mortgage relief from the program's original three months to as long as 12 months and widen eligibility to include higher AMI thresholds.

Kelly Madison, CalHFA's director of enterprise risk management, told the board CalHFA is administering $105,000,000 from the National Mortgage Settlement Fund to provide mortgage assistance for homeowners affected by qualified disasters from Jan. 2023 through Jan. 2025. As of Jan. 20 staff reported 759 homeowners have received more than $6,000,000 in grants, with an average award of about $8,200.

CalHFA proposed extending the term of assistance to provide longer‑term stability and to raise the income ceiling — staff discussed a potential ceiling in the 180–200% AMI range for Los Angeles County (the presentation cited roughly $254,000 at the higher end as an illustrative static number). Staff said the most impactful single change would be the extension of months of coverage, while raising AMI would capture applicants who had applied but been denied because their incomes exceeded prior limits.

The presentation to the board emphasized outreach and intake strategies to reach affected households: a press announcement, targeted direct mail to affected ZIP codes, paid media concentrated in Los Angeles County, multilingual materials, partnerships with mortgage servicers and community‑based organizations, and direct follow‑up with prior applicants. Staff told the board paid media buys to date were under $1,000,000 (Madison estimated roughly $400,000–$500,000), and said additional targeted steps would include servicer mailings and text campaigns.

Board members pressed staff on data quality, targeting the most vulnerable households, and operational constraints. Staff acknowledged limitations in available datasets (noting some purchased data capped reported incomes at $175,000) and said their estimate of potentially eligible households ranges from about 3,600 to nearly 8,000 depending on definitions and scenario modeling. Staff also reported the fund balance remained substantial: roughly $99,000,000 was available at the time of the presentation.

During the subsequent discussion, several board members urged prioritizing low‑income households and deeper outreach to communities that may be harder to reach after a disaster. Others argued that with a large unexpended balance CalHFA should broaden eligibility to avoid leaving funds unused.

The board considered Resolution 2601, which contained the proposed extension of assistance and changes to income limits. After debate over whether to split (bifurcate) the package so the board could vote on the term extension separately from the AMI change, the full resolution as presented in the board packet was put to roll call and approved. The resolution authorizes staff to proceed with the recommended program changes and outreach steps, including notifying prior applicants and launching the public announcement and targeted communications.

CalHFA staff said that if the board adopts these adjustments they will announce the changes publicly, notify prior applicants so no reapplication is required for current beneficiaries, invite newly eligible homeowners to reapply under the revised criteria, and continue partnerships with servicers and community organizations to reach survivors.

The board did not set an exact new static AMI ceiling in the meeting; staff said they would return with precise numbers and implementation details and that some of the operational mechanics (application coding, outreach timing and communications) will drive timing for rollout. The vote leaves the core direction in place: CalHFA will move to longer assistance terms and broaden eligibility under the limits approved by the board.

Resolution 2601 approved by roll call. The board packet and staff presentation contain more detailed tables and decline‑code analyses that staff said will be used to refine operational steps and outreach targets.