Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that $539 million was approved by the federal government to assist in with an all-new state-based Homeowner Assistance Fund. The governor said this program is a first of its kind in the U.S. and that New York was the first state to receive this kind of federal funding. The New York State Homeowner Assistance Fund (NYS HAF) is a “federally funded program dedicated to assisting homeowners who are at risk of default, foreclosure or displacement as result of a financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”