West Virginia program offers financial assistance for homeowners

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - The West Virginia Housing Development Fund is calling April Housing Stability Awareness Month.

To recognize the upcoming month, WTAP learned about the West Virginia Homeowners Rescue Program.

West Virginia Housing Development Fund’s Jessica Greathouse said, “Housing stability affects pretty much every part of your life. If you don’t have a stable roof over your head or an address to call your own, it’s hard to do just about anything…,”

The West Virginia Homeowners Rescue Program aims to help homeowners maintain housing stability during the Covid pandemic, which is still ongoing.

“The West Virginia Homeowners Rescue program offers up to $28,000 of assistance to people who own their homes in the state, they live in them as primary residents, they meet certain eligibility requirements for income, delinquencies, and that sort of thing and they can get help for any financial impact they’ve had from the pandemic,” Greathouse said.

For instance, the program can help with mortgage payments, utility bills, insurance, and more.

Greathouse added that they’ve also partnered with housing counseling agencies to help people get their financial lives back in order.

“..., whether it be to help work with their bank to figure out the best path forward for their mortgage that they’ve fallen behind in or to help them establish a budget in order to get their financial lives moving forward so they have housing stability in the future,” she said.

You can fill out an application and look at eligibility requirements at wvhomerescue.com. For a paper application, call 844-542-0035.

If you need rental or utility assistance, Greathouse suggests calling 211 to get connected with resources.

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