Lawmakers approved it unanimously Monday. Murphy signed it Wednesday

New Jersey residents who have spent more than three years making mortgage payments on houses damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida are again one step away from long-sought relief.

A bill offering mortgage relief and foreclosure protection to homeowners affected by Ida’s flooding was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday, after being unanimously passed the state Senate and Assembly on Monday afternoon. Cheers broke out briefly when the Assembly vote was tallied.

“We are very pleased with the outcome of today’s vote in the Assembly and the Senate. We’re very grateful to Assemblywoman Lopez and Senator Singleton for fast-tracking this bill and getting it passed within six weeks,” Colleen Kane, a Lambertville resident and Ida survivor who has testified in support of the bill, said on Tuesday, referencing the two main sponsors of the bill.

The bill (S-3670) offers a year of mortgage forbearance, or a stay in foreclosure proceedings, to Ida survivors once they have been certified by the state and meet the financial requirements.

“Despite the provision of federal aid, many families whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Ida remain financially burdened from the effects of the storm. Extreme flooding necessitated costly repairs, replacement of damaged possessions, and other financial challenges,” Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) said in a statement.

Why the legislation was revised

It’s the second time that state lawmakers have approved this sort of relief. The previous version of the bill was unanimously passed in June, only to be conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy in September.

Murphy explained in his veto statement that he was concerned the previous version of the bill did not do enough to guard against potential fraud, because it only required people to send written notice to their mortgage provider in order to be granted forbearance, or notify the court in order to stay foreclosure. At the time, Murphy called for limiting eligibility only to Ida survivors who were in enrolled in the Homeowner Assistance and Recovery Program (HARP) and the Mitigation Assistance Program.

In writing the new bill, Singleton opted for a broader rule with the hope of trying to make relief attainable by those who need it. Homeowners whose houses were damaged by Ida’s flooding will be eligible if they are participating in HARP, were rejected from HARP because their homes are not in designated flood zones, have applied to the Mitigation Assistance Program or have been offered Blue Acres buyouts.

The new bill requires people seeking help to apply to the state Department of Community Affairs for a “Certification of Eligibility for Forbearance.” The DCA will need to create a new program for accepting and reviewing applications and issuing certifications.

“This legislation has been crafted in consideration of the concerns expressed in the Governor’s conditional veto in September,” Singleton said.

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