Hardest Hit Fund
Background
The Illinois Hardest Hit Fund® program provides mortgage assistance to homeowners who have experienced at least a 15 percent income reduction due to a qualifying hardship event and who meet the eligibility criteria. The assistance allows eligible households to avoid foreclosure while they work to regain employment and financial stability.
On April 20, 2016, the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), who administers the Illinois Hardest Hit program, announced it has secured $269,474,060 in additional funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to continue to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure and stabilize communities.
This additional funding provided the agency with an opportunity to evaluate program initiatives and recommend opportunities for improvement. The Compliance Team, along with the Program Manager, worked to simplify the pre-application process as a way to decrease ineligible applications.
The Solution
Due to budgetary and regulatory limitations, we did not have access to standard UX tools and were unable to download free web-based applications. The team worked with the tools we had on hand: paper and pencil and Microsoft Word. The result was adding three new pages that screened applicants on the basic eligibility requirements. If the applicant passes the screening, they are directed to the full application. If the applicant does not pass the screening, they are directed to the agency's homepage for additional resources.
Wireframe
Navigation Map
Final Product
