Interior Regional Housing Authority Homeowner Assistance is federally funded by U.S. Treasury as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Enrolled tribal members who are homeowners and live in select regions that have IRHA as their Tribally Designated Housing Entity are eligible to apply. The program is designed to help homeowners avoid mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Approved payments will be distributed by IRHA and its partners directly to mortgage servicers, utility companies and other eligible vendors.

After all applications are received, IRHA will assess need and determine allocation of funds. Assistance for eligible applicants may include unpaid mortgage payments and associated fees, utility bills and other homeowner expenses. Funds cannot be applied to past due balances that pre-date Jan. 21, 2020.

Eligible utilities typically provided by municipal utility companies include:

● Electricity

● Natural gas

● Trash removal

● Water/sewer

Other home-energy and home-heating costs that are not provided by municipal utility companies are also eligible, and include:

● Home heating fuel or oil

● Propane

● Firewood

● Wood pellets

Telephone, cable, and internet are not considered utilities and are not eligible.

Yes, home heating fuel or oil, propane, firewood and wood pellets are eligible expenses.

Basic eligibility requirements are listed below. You can quickly and securely determine your eligibility by using our online eligibility checker.

• You must be a homeowner and applying for aid in your primary residence. Enrolled tribal members who are homeowners and live in select regions that have IRHA as their Tribally Designated Housing Entity are eligible to apply.
• You must be able to demonstrate tribal enrollment.
• You must satisfy minimum federal and IRHA requirements:
  • Have experienced a coronavirus-related financial hardship after Jan. 21, 2020.
  • Not exceed the maximum household income as required by U.S. Treasury.
  • At least one person per household must be directly or indirectly financially impacted by COVID-19.
  • Demonstrated risk of housing instability or homelessness.

Yes. You must demonstrate negative economic or financial hardship due directly or indirectly to COVID-19.

Yes, homeowners who are enrolled tribal members and live in select regions that have selected IRHA as their Tribally Designated Housing Entity are eligible to apply. You must also meet federal requirements, designated Area Median Income levels, and be an enrolled tribal member

To qualify, your primary residence must be in Alaska. Learn more about assistance in other states.

Income is based on the household — all income from adult household members.

Yes. The maximum allowable household income level varies based on your borough or census area. Area Median Income (AMI) is calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) using data from federal entities such as the IRS. During the application process you will use an online eligibility checker that will automatically calculate your AMI.

If delinquent on your mortgage, in addition to applying for Homeowner Assistance, please be proactive and immediately reach out to your mortgage servicer to discuss options that may be available.

Yes. Please also talk to your mortgage servicer so they are aware of the action you are taking.

Yes. IRHA Homeowner Assistance may be able to provide support with utility and/or energy services payments to eligible applicants at their primary residence in Alaska.

No. Only owner-occupied properties are eligible.

IRHA applicants may receive the same type of assistance that was distributed by AHFC, as long as the assistance period does not overlap. For example, if you received assistance for electric bills from another program in September 2023, you could not also receive assistance for electric bills in the same month from IRHA.

Yes, if the property has more than one unit and you occupy a unit as your primary residence.

Eligible owner-occupied properties include:

• Single-family attached and detached properties
• Condominium units
• Manufactured homes permanently affixed to real property and taxed as real estate
• Mobile homes not permanently affixed to real property
• Land contracts
• 1 to 4-unit properties where the homeowner is living in one of the units as a primary residence

After all applications are received, IRHA will assess need and determine allocation of funds. Assistance for eligible applicants may include unpaid mortgage payments and associated fees, utility bills and other homeowner expenses. Funds cannot be applied to past due balances that pre-date Jan. 21, 2020.

Potentially. Applicants who have a new mortgage may be eligible for assistance if they have made their first mortgage payment by October 1, 2023.

If you continue to have financial challenges that make paying your mortgage or homeowner expenses difficult, we encourage you to review and take advantage of these resources to make sure you remain safely housed.

• Get advice about how to make informed housing decisions by connecting with a HUD-certified housing counselor.
• For immediate help, please call or visit 2-1-1.

The deadline to apply is Friday, December 1, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. Alaska time.

No. If you pre-registered you do not need to register again. Check your email for a message from IRHA. In that email is a link to proceed with your application.

Your first step is to check your eligibility. You can do this securely online and it only takes a few minutes.

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Click Here To Check Your Eligibility & Apply

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Yes, if you need assistance completing your application or providing supplemental documentation, a friend or family member can assist you. If you don’t have someone who can help you, please call 1-833-912-2452 toll free for assistance.

You will need access to an email address — either personally or through a trusted resource, as well as access to the internet. Here are some options:

If you have an email address, but no internet access:

• Most public libraries offer limited public access to computers and the internet, and generally these services are free.

If you have internet access, but no email address:

• Gmail, via Google, offers a free basic email package. To sign-up, visit the official Gmail (https://www.google.com/gmail/about/) page and click “Create an Account.”

If you do not have internet access or an email address:

• If you have a trusted resource, such as a relative or friend, consider asking for help completing your application online.
• A trusted resource can use their personal email to help you input and supply the necessary information, as well as receive information on your behalf — as long as that email is not already associated with an existing application.

If none of the above options are available to you, please call 1-833-912-2452 toll free for assistance.

Language translation services are available. Please call 1-833-912-2452 toll free for assistance.

Once submitted, we will review your application to make sure it is complete. If you’d like to confirm that you’ve submitted all required information, visit your status page. If everything is “in review” then you’re all set for now. If we still need something, you’ll find links to submit. Completed applications will then go into the verification process and you will work with a Homeowner Assistance Specialist who will finalize your assistance.

Please check your spam and junk mail folders for the confirmation email. Please also double check your email address and phone number to make sure that there are no accidental typos in your entry.

To check the status of your application, visit the check status page and enter your confirmation code. If you don’t have your code, check the confirmation email you received when you completed your eligibility check.

All applications will be reviewed by IRHA to determine specific assistance amounts.

Yes. During the application and verification process, you will need to provide certain documents, such as:

• Proof of tribal enrollment
• Recent mortgage statement
• Recent utility bills
• Proof of other eligible homeowner expenses

Acceptable forms of ID include:

• Tribal membership card
• Tribal enrollment letter
• Doyon stock verification

Contact your mortgage servicer to request a current statement. Learn how to find and contact your mortgage servicer.

Contact your local Tribal Office, the Tanana Chiefs Conference Tribal Enrollment Office at (907) 452-8251, or the Doyon Shareholders Office at (907) 459-2040.

After you have confirmed eligibility and submitted your application, you will work directly with a Homeowner Assistance Specialist to submit any required documents.

All data is encrypted and will never be shared with anyone outside of IRHA and its contracted application processing partners.

After you have submitted your application and met initial eligibility requirements, you will be asked to submit additional documentation regarding your assistance needs. You will upload these documents to your application by a secure upload process.

Submit your application, and a Homeowner Assistance Specialist will work with you to determine the best approach for assistance.