HARRISBURG — The state agency overseeing Pennsylvania’s troubled mortgage relief program has leveled a slew of new accusations against the private contractor originally hired to run it as thousands of homeowners remain stuck in limbo and at risk of further financial harm. The allegations represent a stark reversal from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. In January, the agency announced that it would end the contract March 31 and run the program itself, but pointedly avoided saying the company, Innovative Emergency Management, Inc., was at fault.

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In a scathing letter dated March 1, PHFA leveled a series of new criticisms at the company, and ended the contract even sooner than planned. The housing agency now says the company failed to deliver what it had promised since the beginning. More recently, IEM prematurely denied assistance to some homeowners in an effort to close applications quickly, PHFA said.

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The Pennsylvania contract, signed in October 2021, was supposed to last five years. In its March letter alleging serious problems with the company’s performance, PHFA noted a recent uptick in the number of homeowners denied assistance because IEM caseworkers deemed their mortgage or utility company unresponsive. The increase, which the agency said began after it first moved to end the contract, appears to represent an effort by IEM to close applications “prematurely,” the letter said.

PHFA spokesperson Scott Elliott said in a statement that it was not yet clear how many homeowners were affected and that PHFA would review those cases to ensure that no one was unfairly disqualified.