NH Homeowner Assistance Fund

New Hampshire Homeowner Assistance Fund
A Statewide Federal Homeowner Assistance Program

Background Information:

• NH HAF is a federally funded program through the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery and is administered by NH Housing.
• New Hampshire Housing has contracted with a full-service vendor named Speridian Technologies, LLC, along with their sub-contracted case management vendor, Tidal Basin Group. Correspondence from these two entities can be trusted and will be sent to you on behalf of the NH HAF program.

Program Details:

• Attached is a NH HAF Application Guide and Checklist to provide general information regarding the program as well as help interested homeowners prepare for the application process.
• There are three types of assistance offered through NH HAF:
  • Mortgage Loan Reinstatement – Maximum benefit of $20,000*
  • Property Charges Default – Maximum benefit of $20,000*
  • Utility/Internet Payment Assistance – Maximum benefit of $3,000*

*Total assistance per property is $20,000 whether utilized for one type of assistance or a combination of any of the three.

Assistance Payments and Processing:

• NH HAF payments are not made to homeowners, but rather to the servicer, provider, and/or municipality. Thus, it is necessary for the NH HAF program to collect some general information for each municipality regarding their preferred method of payment. This request may come from Speridian Technologies, Tidal Basin, New Hampshire Housing, or RCL Consulting.
• When an applicant applies for property tax or water and sewer utility assistance, NH HAF, through Speridian Technologies and Tidal Basin, will reach out to the municipality to verify homeowner information and delinquency.
• Payments will be made in accordance with the provider’s preferred method of payment and in accordance with details shared below.

Protections & Law:

• Internal Revenue Service Rev. Proc. 2021-47
  • NH HAF assistance will not be considered taxable income for the Homeowner.
  • Homeowners are not permitted to deduct any property tax payments that were not paid from the Homeowner’s own sources (such as NH HAF assistance).
• NH RSA 80:69 - “Any person with a “legal interest” in land subject to a real estate lien may redeem the same by paying or tendering to the tax collector, at any time before a deed thereof is given by the collector, the amount of the real estate lien…”
• To address the questions raised as to the legality of New Hampshire Tax Collectors accepting tax lien payments from those without a “legal interest” in a given property, the following procedures have been implemented:
  • All property tax payments will be issued as a two-party check payable to both the homeowner and the municipality and mailed directly to the municipality. The homeowner will be required to endorse the check over to the municipality for payment of the delinquent property taxes, thus transforming the payment into one made by the property owner.