Congress has not passed a homeowner stimulus check, and no such payment program exists in 2026. What Congress has done is keep several permanent tax benefits in place, fund a pandemic-era assistance program that is now closing, and require mortgage relief options for borrowers with government-backed loans. Together these can be worth thousands of dollars a year, but almost none of it arrives automatically. You have to know it exists and ask for it.
Tax Benefits That Work Like Ongoing Relief
The largest financial help homeowners get from the federal government comes through the tax code, not a check. Several provisions changed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025, so even long-time homeowners should look again at what applies for 2026.
Mortgage Interest Deduction
If you itemize, you can deduct interest on up to $750,000 of mortgage debt used to buy or improve your home, or $375,000 if you’re married filing separately.1Internal Revenue Service. Tax Benefits for Homeowners That cap was set to expire at the end of 2025 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made it permanent.
Starting with the 2026 tax year, private mortgage insurance premiums on acquisition debt count as deductible mortgage interest. If you put less than 20% down and pay PMI, those premiums now reduce your taxable income along with your regular interest. Interest on home equity loans is still not deductible.
State and Local Tax Deduction
Homeowners who itemize can also deduct state and local taxes, including property taxes. For 2026, the cap is $40,400, or $20,200 if married filing separately, a large jump from the $10,000 limit that applied from 2018 through 2024.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 503, Deductible Taxes The base cap set at $40,000 for 2025 rises by 1% each year through 2029.
There’s an income phase-out. Once your modified adjusted gross income tops $505,000, or $252,500 if married filing separately, the cap starts to shrink. The reduction equals 30% of the amount above that threshold, and the cap never drops below $10,000.
Capital Gains Exclusion When You Sell
When you sell your primary residence, you can exclude up to $250,000 of profit from federal income tax, or $500,000 filing jointly.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 121 – Exclusion of Gain From Sale of Principal Residence You must have owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale, and you can only use the exclusion once every two years. The $250,000 and $500,000 thresholds are not indexed to inflation.
Energy Credits Have Expired
If you’re searching in hopes of a new credit for solar panels or efficiency upgrades, the news isn’t good. The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.4Internal Revenue Service. Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit The Residential Clean Energy Credit closed on the same date.5Internal Revenue Service. Residential Clean Energy Credit Qualifying installations completed before that deadline can still be claimed on a 2025 return. New installations in 2026 do not qualify.
The Homeowner Assistance Fund Is Closing
The Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) was the closest recent equivalent to direct federal help for homeowners. Created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, it provided $9.961 billion to states, territories, and tribal governments to help homeowners who fell behind on housing costs during the pandemic.6U.S. Department of the Treasury. Homeowner Assistance Fund Eligible expenses included past-due mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and utilities.
Most HAF programs have already closed. Treasury set September 30, 2026, as the final closeout deadline, and most states have exhausted their funds or stopped accepting applications. Only a handful still have programs open. If you think you might qualify, check your state housing finance agency’s website now, because remaining money won’t last. Payments went directly to servicers, tax authorities, or utility companies, not to homeowners as cash.
Federal Mortgage Relief If You’re Behind
If you have a mortgage insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Department of Agriculture, or a loan owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, structured relief options are available whether or not any special program is active. Your servicer is where every one of these starts.
Loan Modification
A modification permanently changes your loan terms. Your servicer might extend the term to 40 years, cut the interest rate, or both.7FHFA. Loss Mitigation For FHA loans, a modification rolls the past-due balance into the principal and resets the loan at a fixed rate.8U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA’s Loss Mitigation Program You aren’t refinancing into a new loan; the existing one gets restructured.
Forbearance
Forbearance temporarily reduces or pauses your payments during a short-term hardship. When the forbearance period ends, you still owe everything you didn’t pay. That balance is typically handled through a repayment plan or a follow-up modification.7FHFA. Loss Mitigation Forbearance is breathing room, not forgiveness.
Partial Claim or Payment Deferral
A partial claim takes the amount you fell behind and moves it into a separate, zero-interest lien on your property. You make no monthly payments on that lien. It comes due when you sell, refinance, pay off, or reach the end of your loan.8U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA’s Loss Mitigation Program FHA borrowers can also use a payment supplement that combines a partial claim with a temporary payment reduction for up to three years.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer a similar tool called payment deferral, which pushes past-due amounts to the end of the loan as a non-interest-bearing balance due at maturity, sale, refinance, or payoff.7FHFA. Loss Mitigation Neither option is a grant. You still repay the deferred amount eventually. You just don’t pay interest on it in the meantime.
What Gets Taxed and What Doesn’t
Not all homeowner relief is tax-free, and the rules moved against homeowners in 2026.
HAF payments are not taxable. The IRS excludes them from gross income when they’re used for qualified expenses on your primary residence, and you don’t need to report the assistance on your return.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 (2025), Taxable and Nontaxable Income
Forgiven mortgage debt is different. If a lender cancels part of what you owe through a short sale, a principal-reducing modification, or foreclosure, the forgiven amount is generally taxable income. A special exclusion had allowed homeowners to avoid tax on up to $2 million in forgiven mortgage debt on a primary residence, but that exclusion expired on January 1, 2026, and Congress has not renewed it. Forgiven debt in 2026 or later is taxable unless you qualify for a separate exception, such as insolvency at the time of forgiveness or discharge in bankruptcy.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 431, Canceled Debt – Is It Taxable or Not?
Mortgage Credit Certificates for First-Time Buyers
Mortgage Credit Certificates are one of the most underused benefits available to newer homeowners. Issued by state housing finance agencies, an MCC gives you a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit worth a percentage of the mortgage interest you pay each year, generally 20% to 40%. The annual credit is capped at $2,000.11FDIC. Mortgage Tax Credit Certificate (MCC) A $2,000 credit cuts your tax bill by $2,000, which is a bigger benefit than a $2,000 deduction.
MCCs are limited to first-time homebuyers, meaning someone who hasn’t owned a primary residence in the past three years. Active-duty military members, veterans, and buyers purchasing in federally targeted areas are exempt from the first-time buyer requirement. The home must be your primary residence, and MCCs apply only to purchase loans, not refinances. Income and purchase price limits are set by each state.
One catch: if you claim the MCC credit, you must reduce your mortgage interest deduction by the credit amount.12Internal Revenue Service. Form 8396 – Mortgage Interest Credit You still usually come out ahead. Applications go through your state housing finance agency, and not every state offers them.
State and Local Programs Worth Checking
Beyond federal help, states, counties, and cities run their own homeowner assistance programs. Common types include property tax exemptions or freezes for seniors (qualifying ages range from 55 to 65 depending on the state), utility payment assistance, and grants for home repairs or accessibility modifications. These are rarely advertised in any central place.
Your state housing finance agency is the best place to start. HUD also maintains a searchable directory of approved housing counseling agencies, and those counselors work with homeowners at no cost.13U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Counseling Services They can walk you through applications for local aid, loss mitigation with your servicer, and budgeting after a setback.
Homestead exemptions are another form of state relief worth chasing down. Most states reduce the taxable value of your primary residence by a set dollar amount or percentage, which lowers your annual property tax bill directly. Some states offer enhanced exemptions for seniors, disabled homeowners, or veterans. You typically apply through your county assessor’s office, and missing the filing deadline usually means losing the benefit for that year.
Watch Out for Fake Stimulus and Modification Offers
Searches for homeowner stimulus payments attract fraud. The patterns are predictable enough to spot.
Anyone who charges an upfront fee to get you a loan modification is breaking federal law. Companies that help with modifications can only collect payment after actually delivering results.14Federal Trade Commission. Mortgage Relief Scams No third party can guarantee your lender will approve a modification, because your lender isn’t obligated to. Other warning signs include being told to stop paying your mortgage, being asked to send payments to anyone other than your servicer, or being pressured to sign over your deed.
Real help is free. HUD-approved housing counselors don’t charge, and your servicer is required to evaluate you for loss mitigation at no cost. Suspected scams can be reported at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.14Federal Trade Commission. Mortgage Relief Scams