Lawmakers seek to codify New York’s homeowner protection program

The state legislature wants an effective program that helps New York homeowners facing instability stay in their homes taken off the budget table.

The 2025 budget included $40 million for the Homeowner Protection Program, or HOPP, which provides advice and legal services to low-income homeowners facing mortgage delinquency, deed theft, predatory lending, scams and other threats.

Lawmakers passed a bill late in the legislative session to codify the program, which has existed for more than a decade, into state law. Gov. Kathy Hochul has until the end of the year to make a decision.

“I don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t sign this bill,” said Linda Rosenthal, chairwoman of the Assembly’s housing committee. “There’s no good reason why she shouldn’t sign it because it’s such a necessary program.”

HOPP, which is run by a network of 89 nonprofit organizations, has helped at least 200,000 New York families avoid homelessness or displacement, said Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages.

Solages sponsored the bill to make the program permanent and take it off the table in state budget negotiations.

“This should not be a bargaining chip,” Solages said Tuesday. “People’s lives and their right to stay at home should not be a bargaining chip.”

Hochul had initially proposed cutting HOPP in his January budget proposal. After negotiations, the governor decided to use $40 million from the state’s Attorney Interest Fund, which provides legal services to low-income people, to fund HOPP this year.

“There was a perception that because interest rates had gone up so much, there was some extra money in the IOLA fund,” said Brian Kavanagh, chairman of the Senate Housing Committee. “But whether we agree with that or not, I don’t think there’s any reason to think that in the future we’re going to have to rely on IOLA money for this program.”

Kavanagh, who sponsored the measure, said he was confident the governor values ​​the program, which is administered by the state attorney general’s office.

Jacob Inwald is a New York attorney who provides HOPP support services and says income inequality and the higher cost of living have led to an increase in home foreclosures.

“The housing market in New York State is very expensive and incomes for low- and moderate-income homeowners are inadequate,” said Inwald, who works as the director of economic justice litigation for Legal Services of New York. “We are still dealing with the economic disruption caused by the pandemic and many, many homeowners have not yet recovered.”

New York’s high property tax values ​​have also increased, placing an additional burden on homeowners that can lead to foreclosure.

Solages, who chairs the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, says about 10% of New Yorkers are behind on their mortgage payments, making the program more needed than ever. And about 3% of New Yorkers behind on their mortgage payments are people of color.

A growing number of seniors across the state are relying on HOPP to help combat mortgage scams or deed theft.

“This is a program that truly preserves homeowners and helps our most vulnerable communities, particularly our seniors and communities of color,” Solages said, adding, “those who are marginalized and need our support.”

State law requires banks to notify homeowners of organizations that can help them with HOPP when sending a warning notice about a potential foreclosure.

If the proposal is signed into law, HOPP would become a permanently funded program, but legislative leaders would continue to negotiate the amount and source of funding each year.