New California program to help homeowners hurt by pandemic

Online applications are now being accepted for California's COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Program.

The state will help as many as 40,000 homeowners catch up on their past-due mortgage payments.

California will use about $1 billion in federal money to help people who fell behind on their payments during the pandemic.

The plan will pay up to a maximum of $80,000 per household - a grant that will not have to be paid back.

The money will go directly to the banks or mortgage servicers.

To be eligible, a homeowner should earn at or less than 100% of their county's area median income, own a single-family home condo or permanently affixed manufactured home and have faced a pandemic-related financial hardship between Jan. 21, 2020 and Dec. 27, 2021.

Additional eligibility requirements and information about applying can be found here.