Assistance Programs for New Jersey & Pennsylvania Residents
Assistance programs are free, official sources of help with utility bills, mortgages, and legal problems, run by government agencies, courts, and established nonprofits. This page gathers the ones we point New Jersey and Pennsylvania clients to most often. We aren’t affiliated with any of them, and we don’t get anything for sending you there.
Two honest notes before you dive in. First, most of these programs have income limits, and some only open during certain windows of the year, so check each program’s own page for current rules. Second, assistance programs help with the bills going forward. If the debt you already have is past the point where a grant or a payment plan can fix it, that’s what bankruptcy is for, and a free consultation can tell you which path fits.
New Jersey
Money and bill help
- NJ Board of Public Utilities: assistance programs. The state’s central list of utility help, including the winter and summer shutoff protection programs. Start here if you’re behind on gas, electric, water, or sewer.
- LIHEAP (Home Energy Assistance). Grants toward heating bills. Seasonal application window and income limits apply.
- Universal Service Fund (USF). Monthly credits on gas and electric bills for lower-income households, with a Fresh Start program that can forgive old arrears.
- NJ Lifeline. An annual utility benefit for qualifying seniors and residents with disabilities.
- SHARES. A nonprofit (formerly NJ SHARES) offering utility grants for households in a financial crisis, including many who don’t qualify for the government programs.
- Utility customer rights. New Jersey’s official rundown of shutoff protections: required notices, medical holds, and the winter rules.
Mortgage and foreclosure help
- NJ Courts foreclosure self-help. The judiciary’s own guide to the foreclosure process, mediation, and court forms.
- HUD housing counselors. Find a free, HUD-approved housing counselor near you; they know which mortgage-assistance options are currently open.
Free legal help
- Legal Services of New Jersey hotline. Free civil legal help statewide for people who qualify by income: 1-888-LSNJ-LAW.
- South Jersey Legal Services. Free civil legal aid for lower-income residents of the southern counties.
Courts, complaints, and everything else
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey. Where New Jersey bankruptcy cases are filed; South Jersey cases run through the Camden vicinage.
- NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. File a complaint about a business, a debt collector, or a scam.
- NJ 211. One call or search connects you to food, housing, and emergency help across the state.
Pennsylvania
Money and bill help
- PA Public Utility Commission: assistance programs. The state’s central list, including each utility’s Customer Assistance Program (CAP), hardship funds, and usage-reduction help.
- LIHEAP. Grants toward heating bills, including crisis grants. Seasonal application window and income limits apply.
Mortgage and foreclosure help
- HEMAP (PHFA). Pennsylvania’s emergency mortgage assistance loan program, tied to the Act 91 notice you receive before foreclosure. It’s a repayable loan, not a grant, and approval isn’t automatic.
- HUD housing counselors. Free, HUD-approved counseling on mortgage trouble and what’s currently available.
Free legal help
- Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Free civil legal help for lower-income Philadelphia residents.
- Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network. Find the free legal aid program that covers your county, anywhere in the state.
Courts, complaints, and everything else
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Covers Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania. Covers central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Pennsylvania. Covers Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.
- PA Attorney General. File a consumer complaint about a business, a lender, or a debt collector.
- PA 211. Connects you to food, housing, and emergency help anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Federal and both states
- Approved credit counseling agencies. The official list of providers for the short course required before filing bankruptcy.
- Approved debtor education providers. The official list for the second required course, taken after filing.
- U.S. Trustee Program means testing. The current median income tables used in the Chapter 7 means test, updated periodically.
- CFPB complaints. File a federal complaint about a bank, lender, servicer, credit bureau, or debt collector.
- Responsible Exit. The timeshare industry’s directory of official developer exit programs; check it before paying any exit company.
Common questions
Yes. Every program on this page is run by a government agency, a court, or an established nonprofit, and applying costs nothing. Be careful with anyone who charges an upfront fee to get you a government grant.
For utility bills, start with your state’s central list, the NJ Board of Public Utilities or the PA Public Utility Commission page above. For mortgage trouble, a HUD housing counselor can map what’s currently open. For a legal problem, call the legal aid line for your state. Not sure? 211 will point you somewhere in one call.
It varies. Most have income limits, some are seasonal, and a few are limited to seniors or people with disabilities. Each link goes to the program’s own page with the current rules, which change over time.
Yes, and plenty of people do both. Assistance programs lower the bills going forward, and bankruptcy can typically clear the old balances that assistance can’t touch. They solve different halves of the same problem.
When assistance isn’t enough
These programs are good at keeping the lights on and the mortgage moving. What they can’t do is erase debt that’s already past catching up. If you’re juggling which bill to pay each month, bankruptcy can typically clear the old balances so the help above actually has a chance to work. Book a free consultation by phone or Zoom, and we’ll tell you honestly which path fits, even if the answer is one of the programs on this page.
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