§ 42–2703.07a(Perm). Reverse Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program.

(a)(1) The Agency shall establish a Reverse Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program ("program") as a pilot program that allows qualified homeowners to apply for and receive financial assistance for payment of past due property taxes and property insurance debts that have put the qualified homeowner at risk of foreclosure.

(2) The financial assistance shall be made to qualified homeowners in the form of a zero-interest, non-recourse loan that shall become due and payable upon satisfaction of the first priority reverse mortgage or relinquishment of the subject property to the reverse mortgage lender.

(3) The program shall run for 18 months, with a 6-month planning period and a 12-month implementation period.

(b) The Agency shall establish a standardized application process and requirements for qualified homeowners in need of the program.

(c) The Agency shall record a lien on the subject property in the amount of the financial assistance provided to the qualified homeowner. The lien shall be subordinate to the reverse mortgage lender in the first position.

(d) No qualified homeowner may receive more than $25,000 in assistance.

(e) No more than $500,000 in Fiscal Year 2019 shall be allocated to the program.

(f) For the purposes of the section, the term:

(1) "At risk of foreclosure" means:

(A) A reverse mortgage lender has provided a homeowner with legal notice that the homeowner is in default on the terms of a reverse mortgage on the home in which the homeowner lives for failure to pay property taxes or insurance premiums; or

(B) A homeowner and reverse mortgage lender have entered into an agreement to pay past due balances of property taxes and insurance premiums on a home in which the homeowner lives, but the homeowner has demonstrated difficulty maintaining the agreement.

(2) "Borrower income" means the combined annual income of all mortgagees on a reverse mortgage.

(3) "Qualified homeowner" means a District homeowner who:

(A) Is 62 years of age or older;

(B) Has an annual borrower income of 80% or less of the area median income for a household of 4 persons in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area as set forth in the periodic calculation provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(C) Has executed a reverse mortgage with a lender financial institution, which has a recorded lien on the home in which the homeowner lives; and

(D) Is at risk of foreclosure.

(4) "Reverse mortgage" means a mortgage agreement between a lender financial institution and a homeowner in which the homeowner relinquishes equity in the homeowner's home in exchange for tax-free payments from the lender until the total principal and interest of the loan reaches the credit limit of equity in the home and the lender is either repaid in full or the homeowner relinquishes the home to the lender.

(5) "Subject property" means the home in which a homeowner who is at risk of foreclosure lives.