TRENTON, NJ — The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 left thousands of New Jersey homeowners at risk of losing their homes because they were no longer able to make their mortgage payments. To help these families keep their homes, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) took advantage of a component of the American Rescue Plan, a federal law passed in the spring of 2021, to establish the Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) program. This program has provided $240 million in vital assistance to 8,284 families over the first few years of operation and starting on August 15, 2025, ERMA funds will also be able to assist with Partial Claims.

These changes will allow the ERMA program to pay off the balance of partial claims owed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD’s partial claim program offers loans to homeowners whose mortgages are at risk of foreclosure; the partial claims taken during COVID placed the amount in arrears as a lien that must be repaid in full when either the house is sold or the mortgage is paid off. Under the terms of this program extension, homeowners facing this situation may also obtain additional ERMA assistance to repay the partial claim.

“While the COVID pandemic may be behind us, many New Jersey families still face challenges due to loss of income during it,” said NJHMFA Executive Director Melanie R. Walter. “This expansion of the Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance program will enable us to provide additional help to New Jersey households in overcoming these circumstances.”

To be eligible for the Partial Claim assistance, New Jersey homeowners must have fallen behind on mortgage payments and taken a HUD Partial Claim due to financial difficulties stemming from COVID-19. Families can receive a maximum of $75,000 in total assistance from the current and expanded programs to cover arrears, future payments and repayment of a Partial Claim.

The ERMA program has enabled more than eighty-two hundred New Jersey households to remain in their homes since its inception. Now, the program is being expanded to assist homeowners with FHA, VA and USDA loans who were granted partial claims in light of COVID-related hardships. While the HUD partial claim eliminated the immediate threat of foreclosure, NJHMFA’s ERMA program goal is to relieve eligible homeowners of all COVID-related mortgage delinquencies, including partial claims taken in an emergency to avoid foreclosure.

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