Hundreds of millions in pandemic relief still unclaimed

A state legislative oversight committee Tuesday heard reports from agencies in charge of business relief and homeowner relief programs. In both cases, money is already flowing to help those impacted by the pandemic and its related shutdowns. But plenty of money remains to be claimed.

Hospitality businesses that had received other help could apply to recoup up to 10% of their pandemic losses. Furuseth said those grants accounted for the bulk of the spending to date. But non-hospitality businesses that had received other funds weren't eligible.

Since Feb. 25, Furuseth said, the program has issued checks to 3,409 businesses. More than 6,500 initially applied, but he said many were ineligible because they didn't use a specific type of tax document the program required.

Out of the initial sum, about $27 million remains for hospitality grants, and $177 million remains for reimbursement grants for other businesses.

Furuseth said Phase 2 is about to get underway.

"We anticipate launching the application on May 2. And we anticipate the deadline being June 1, which is the last ... day by statute that we can set the deadline," he said.

In Phase 2, he said, the revenue department will expand eligibility to non-hospitality businesses that had received previous help, in addition to the same groups from Phase 1. It will also expanded the range of tax documents acceptable for eligibility, which should help many business owners who were turned away in Phase 1.

The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency manages the state's Homeowner Assistance Fund. Agency director Scott Farmer said the state's initial federal allocation was $273 million to help homeowners who suffered financial hardship due to the pandemic.

The grants don't go to the homeowners themselves. They go to lenders or tax agencies to pay off delinquent accounts that could lead to foreclosure.

Farmer told lawmakers Tuesday the process generally takes sic to eight weeks because the agency and lenders have to coordinate to verify eligibility and confirm delinquent amounts.

The program got underway in January. Agency spokeswoman Connie Helmlinger told WRAL News that only about $1 million has gone out to date to assist 94 homeowners. More than 5,400 applications are in the process, and 1,000 of those are in the final stages.

Assuming all the applications in the process are eligible and paid out, Helmlinger estimates about $119 million still remains for other homeowners to apply for.

Rep. Mark Brody, R-Union, asked whether this assistance is still needed, given that the pandemic seems to be over and the economy is improving. Foreclosures, Brody said, "generally don't last two years. They're quicker than that."

Farmer explained state and national moratoriums on foreclosures led to lender forbearance that protected most homeowners during the pandemic. "A lot of the folks that were behind during this period, their foreclosures were not going forward," he said.

"Since the program has opened up, a lot of those forbearance agreements that were in place for 12 months, 18 months for homeowners have now expired," Farmer said. "They were eventually going to have to catch up those payments. Those are the folks that would need this assistance."

Homeowners can apply online at www.nchaf.gov, or via phone at 1-855-696-2423. Helmlinger said the call center is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.