Following Urging From Schatz, New National Housing Assistance Website Launched To Help Renters, Homeowners Apply For Relief, Learn About New Protections To Keep Them In Their Homes
Schatz, Senators Called For Comprehensive Housing Resource Guide Over A Month Ago; New National Housing Assistance Guide Available At: cfpb.gov/housing
WASHINGTON – Following calls led by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) partnered together to launch a new website to help renters and homeowners learn more about all the resources and assistance available to them during the coronavirus pandemic. The website details new housing-related policies, benefits, and protections established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. On April 1, Senator Schatz led a group of 20 senators in calling on the relevant government agencies to collaborate and create this new website.
“Millions are struggling to pay their mortgage or rent, and this website can help them access the new housing resources and keep them in their homes,” said Senator Schatz. “This new website is a good start, and I will continue working with our federal partners to improve it so that it's more user-friendly and comprehensive.”
Previously, each federal agency maintained their own individual resource websites, forcing people to navigate multiple pages to find information about the protections and benefits they need. This new website consolidates information about CARES Act programs, including mortgage relief, protections for renters, resources for additional help, and information on how to avoid coronavirus-related scams. It also provides search tools for homeowners to help determine if their mortgage is federally backed, and for renters to find out if their rental unit is federally financed.
Schatz’s April letter calling for a single website was signed by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.).
In their April letter, Schatz and the senators wrote, “Americans throughout the country are grappling with the realities of the pandemic response. Social distancing guidelines are placing physical, emotional, and economic pressures on nearly everyone. Accordingly, we urge you to develop and rapidly make available a single website to serve as a clearinghouse for all new housing policies and tools that homeowners and renters can avail themselves of to get through this crisis.”
For a PDF copy of the April letter the senators sent calling for the creation of the comprehensive guide, click here.
To visit the new comprehensive national housing assistance guide, click here.
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