BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Kern County homeowners can now receive help on mortgage payments and past due property tax payments.
As a result of the pandemic, many homeowners throughout the state and here in Kern county have struggled financially which can also affect making mortgage payments on time.
“My goal is to make sure that as many people as possible in Kern County know about this program and can take advantage of this really historic property tax relief program,” said Kern County Treasurer and Tax Collector, Jordan Kaufman.
Kaufman says that prior to applying to the program, California homeowners must meet a certain set ofeligibility requirements in order to receive assistance.
The property tax assistance that began on June 13th 2022 provides up to $20,000 to cover past-due property taxes.
Rebecca Franklin, President of the CalHFA Homeowner Relief Corporation
says 150% of the area median income or “AMI” requirement here in Kern county for a household size of 4 is roughly $116,000 annually and roughly $105,000 for a household size of 3.
“We used to have it at 100% of your area median income and now we have raised it to 150% of your area median income. That gave it a boost and allowed a lot more families to come into the program who have missed payments,” said Rebecca Franklin.
There is no cost to apply and the funds you receive you do not have to be paid back. Franklin adds that a part of the expansion also includes a new date requirement that your property has to have delinquent taxes on.
“Prior, it was December when we launched December of last year and we’ve reset that so in order to be eligible for and to catch up on those payments you need to have been two months behind and currently delinquent. At least two payments by June of this year, so May and June would be the minimum amount of payments you’d be behind in order to qualify,” said Franklin.
