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The Haywood County Homeownership Assistance Program (HAP) has reopened the application period for eligible storm-displaced homeowners and first-time homebuyers seeking financial help with purchasing a home in Haywood County. The program, which is administered in partnership with the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), paused applications in late April to ensure available federal funding would cover applications already in process.
The Homeownership Assistance Program–Haywood County assists homebuyers displaced by Tropical Storm Fred or first-time homebuyers that are income qualified. More than $1 million is available to offset homeownership costs, including up to 30% in down payment assistance and up to 5% in closing cost assistance. Homebuyer education and counseling will also be offered and must be completed prior to closing.
Interested applicants should read the program requirements to ensure their application meets the homebuyer and property rules for acceptance. Interested parties should not apply until they are preapproved by a lender and are prepared to provide the required documentation. Failure to follow these guidelines may disqualify applicants. Limited funding is available, so some applicants may not receive assistance.
The Homeownership Assistance Program–Haywood County is operated through a collaboration between Haywood County and the NCORR Community Development Office. The program will continue to serve low- to medium-income households purchasing a home in Haywood County. Details about program eligibility and awards, as well as the program manual, can be found on the Haywood County HAP webpage.
The program is just one of several in Haywood County that is replacing housing lost due to Tropical Storm Fred. The community continues to recover from storm damage that resulted in hundreds of destroyed structures in 2021. In addition to the HAP, NCORR and Haywood County are partnering to manage an Affordable Housing Development Fund to provide new affordable housing development projects.
The Homeownership Assistance Program–Haywood County is supported by North Carolina’s HUD Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery funding for Tropical Storm Fred. The HAP program is one of multiple housing programs overseen by NCORR through its Community Development Office, which also administers the Affordable Housing Development Fund, Multifamily Development Fund, Public Housing Restoration Fund, Homeownership Assistance Program and Infrastructure Recovery Program. In addition to disaster recovery and affordable housing, the office manages programs that support resiliency, mitigation, strategic buyout, infrastructure, local government grants and loans, and pandemic-related rent and utility assistance.
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