Grantees must establish policies and procedures to govern the implementation of their ERA programs consistent with the statutes and these FAQs. If you find yourself in that situation with a pending rent relief application and an eviction notice you should contact a lawyer. In these cases, the grantee is still responsible for making the required determination regarding the applicants household income and documenting that determination. Does this program provide mortgage assistance? t make your rent payments 6 Grantees under ERA1 must comply with the requirement in section 501(g)(4) of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, to establish data privacy and security requirements for information they collect; grantees under ERA2 are also encouraged to comply with those requirements. If a housing-related expense is included in a bundle or an invoice that is not itemized (for example, internet services bundled together with telephone and cable television services) and obtaining an itemized invoice would be unduly burdensome, grantees may establish and apply reasonable procedures for determining the portion of the expense that is appropriate to be covered by ERA. one or more individuals within the household has qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship during or due, directly or indirectly, to the coronavirus pandemic; the household is a low-income family (as such term is defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. A grantee is not required to provide assistance with respect to rent in order to provide assistance with respect to utility or energy costs. The court will not issue a summons if the owner of How Long Does Rent Relief Take to Process - DoNotPay Utilities and home energy costs are separately stated charges related to the occupancy of rental property. As usual, the eviction notice must give the tenant 30 days to leave the property. Yes. New CalFresh applicants can start their application online in English, Spanish or Chinese using the states official site, or by calling (877) 847-3663. Application Submitted for Review In addition, to speed the delivery of assistance, grantees may adopt policies and procedures enabling landlords and utility providers to receive assistance based on reasonable estimates of arrears owed by multiple households, before their application and documentation requirements are satisfied. If you No. 1As of the date of this FAQ, the definition of very low-income families in 42 U.S.C. The full payment of arrears is allowed up to the limits established by the statutes, as described in FAQ 10. Grantees are required to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (which prohibits discrimination on the ground of race, color, or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (which prohibits discrimination because of disability in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance), and should evaluate whether their policies and practices regarding assistance to households that occupy federally subsidized residential or mixed-use properties or receive federal rental assistance comply with Title VI and Section 504. That's because this new state legislation means a landlord can't evict you for not paying rent you owed before March 31 but it doesn't protect you from eviction for not paying rent after that date. She recommends calling the help line at (833) 430-2122. Additional information on the program will be released as further guidance is provided by the federal government. For both ERA1 and ERA2, other expenses related to housing include relocation expenses (including prospective relocation expenses), such as rental security deposits, and rental fees, which may include application or screening fees. 7 ERA2 funds are considered to be obligated upon the grantees approval 8of the loan, interest subsidy, grant, or other financial arrangement, and such obligations are considered to be liquidated for the purpose of award closeout upon the grantees disbursement of the ERA2 funds. How Long Does Rent Relief Take The assistance described in this paragraph may only be provided for three months at a time, and a grantee must obtain evidence of rent owed consistent with the above after three months in order to provide further assistance to such a household; Treasury expects that in most cases the household would be able to provide documentation of the amount of the rental obligation in any applications for further assistance. Treasurys Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program has provided communities over $46 billion to support housing stability throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Internet service provided to a residence is related to housing and is in many cases a vital service that allows renters to engage in distance learning, telework, and telemedicine and obtain government services. 1437a(b))).1 However, in accordance with the ERA2 statute, prior to obligating any funds for such purposes, the grantee must have obligated at least 75 percent of the total ERA2 funds allocated to it for financial assistance to eligible households, eligible costs for housing stability services, and eligible administrative costs. How long does Log in using the link you received after submitting your application to check your application status. Renters: How to Get Rent Relief Further, the revised award term for ERA1 no longer requires grantees to deduct administrative costs charged to the award from the amount available for housing stability services. Help for renters: Coronavirus housing resources | Consumer The FAQs below describe the documentation requirements for each of these conditions of eligibility. There may be instances when a landlord refuses to accept a payment from a tenant who has received assistance directly from a grantee for the purpose of paying the landlord. A version of this story was originally published on March 21, 2022. How long That means residents in San Francisco and Los Angeles County who would have been protected under new local regulations will no longer be protected. Grantees with overlapping or contiguous jurisdictions are encouraged coordinate to avoid duplicating assistance. And the clock is ticking: Under state law, landlords will be able to evict tenants who havent paid rent by April 1. WebMD WebEmergency Rental Assistance is intended to help eligible households that require financial assistance to pay for rent, utilities, home energy expenses, and other related expenses, Grantees should address barriers that potentially eligible households may experience in accessing ERA programs, including by providing program documents in multiple languages, by enabling persons with disabilities to access the programs, and by conducting targeted outreach to populations with disproportionately high levels of unemployment or housing instability or that are low income. Grantees are encouraged to achieve administrative efficiency and fiduciary responsibility by collaborating with other grantees in joint administrative solutions to deploying ERA resources. That's because, since that date, any landlord wanting to evict a tenant for failing to pay rent as a result of COVID hardship needs to first apply for rental relief before continuing with an eviction lawsuit. A direct conflict between program requirements occurs only when it is impossible to comply with the requirements of ERA2 and of the other program. If your local jurisdiction enacted stronger local protections after that date, you are not grandfathered in. It may be difficult for some grantees to establish whether a financial hardship experienced during the pandemic is due to the COVID-19 outbreak. "If you have an application in already and you're just waiting, I would suggest reaching out to HCD [the Housing and Community Development Department]," Howard said. In addition, if a household is a single family that the grantee determined met the income requirement for eligibility under ERA1, the grantee may consider the household to be eligible under ERA2, unless the grantee becomes aware of any reason the household does not meet the requirements for ERA2. "In some cities and counties, a landlord can face not only criminal penalties if they forcibly remove you from your home without a court order, but also monetary penalties if the tenant files a lawsuit. And it's really hard to enforce them without an attorney.. As of June 28, 2021 Gov. Yes. Sign up for our daily newsletter. There is no requirement regarding the length of tenure in the current unit. The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is providing these frequently asked questions (FAQs) as guidance regarding the requirements of the Emergency Rental Assistance program (ERA1) established by section 501 of Division N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. Data-sharing agreements between grantees and utility providers or landlords with multiple units may reduce administrative burdens and enhance program integrity by providing information to validate tenant-provided information. Typically, a lawyer can help a tenant combat these claims. Find a legal aid office near you. 117-2 (March 11, 2021). Emergency Rental Assistance Grantees that use ERA2 funds for an eligible affordable rental housing purpose may provide such funds in the form of loans (including no-interest loans and deferred-payment loans), interest subsidies, grants, or other financial arrangements. expenses, such as continuation of health care benefits, rent, utilities, and fixed debt payments. 3 ERA2 award funds used for affordable rental housing and eviction prevention purposes will be subject to the applicable requirements set forth in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), 2 CFR Part 200. Grantees should require recipients of funds under ERA programs, including tenants and landlords, to commit in writing to use ERA assistance only for the intended purpose before issuing a payment. This income-driven repayment plan will cut borrowers monthly payments in half, allow many borrowers to make $0 monthly payments, save all other borrowers at Find a legal aid office near you. The Department of Housing and Urban Development annually updates its calculations relevant to the definition of very low-income families at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html. So until a court has issued an order telling you to move? If you apply for rent relief, the funds will come either from the state or your own county, depending on where you live. The treatment of security deposits is generally subject to applicable law and the rental agreement. Treasury will calculate the 75 percent obligation threshold as (i) the total amount of ERA2 funds the grantee has obligated 9for financial assistance to eligible households, eligible costs for housing stability services, and eligible administrative costs, divided by (ii) the grantees total ERA2 allocation, including any amounts reallocated to and excluding any amounts recaptured from the grantee. Emergency Rental Assistance rent relief Separately, the student loan repayment process is set to begin again at the end of August after having been put on pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, although Under the statute establishing ERA1, funds used for other expenses must be related to housing and incurred due, directly or indirectly, to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. In contrast, the statute establishing ERA2 requires that other expenses be related to housing but does not require that they be incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Find a local rental assistance program. Pay or Quit Notice period for nonpayment of rent extended from 3 to 15 days. Before moving into a new residence, a tenant may not yet have a rental obligation, as required by the statutes establishing ERA1 and ERA2. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday is expected to bring an additional $2.2 billion in rental assistance to California in the coming months. Grantees using ERA funds for housing stability services must maintain records regarding such services and the amount of funds provided to them. 5191(b). The cost of a hotel or motel room occupied by an eligible household may be covered using ERA assistance within the category of certain other expenses related to housing (as described in FAQ 7) provided that: The cost of the hotel or motel stay would not include expenses incidental to the charge for the room. The subrecipient monitoring and management requirements set forth in 2 CFR 200.331-200.333 will apply to such entities. However, for both ERA1 and ERA2, a grantee must collect any demographic or other information from the household needed to fulfill the grantees reporting obligations. In order to remove barriers a household may face in accessing new housing, a grantee may, at the tenants request, provide assistance for rental or utility arrears after an otherwise eligible tenant has vacated a unit. Rental payments for either the manufactured home or the parcel of land the manufactured home occupies are eligible for financial assistance under ERA programs. Grantees must specify in their policies and procedures under what circumstances they will accept written attestations from the applicant without further documentation to determine any aspect of eligibility or the amount of assistance, and in such cases, grantees must have in place reasonable validation or fraud-prevention procedures to prevent abuse. When documenting eligibility for households to receive housing stability services without any financial assistance, special considerations apply. In addition, rent or rental bonds, where a tenant posts a bond with a court as a condition to obtaining a hearing, reopening an eviction action, appealing an order of eviction, reinstating a lease, or otherwise avoiding an eviction order, may also be considered an eligible expense. Grantees are encouraged to confirm that the participant has already reported any income loss or financial hardship to the Public Housing Authority or property manager and completed an interim re-examination before assistance is provided. Applications received prior to that time will continue to be processed on a first-come, first-served basis until funding runs out. all eligible applications received on or before March 31, 2022, for rent or utilities owed between April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2022, will be paid. WebThe COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and are an important tool for ending the global pandemic. As discussed in FAQ 26, under certain circumstances, the cost of a hotel stay may also be covered as an other expense.. Applications for this temporary pandemic program closed February 5, 2023, at midnight. If your local jurisdiction enacted eviction protections before Aug. 19, 2020, those protections are grandfathered in and will remain in place. A grantees failure to submit required reports to Treasury on a timely basis may constitute a violation of the ERA award terms. COVID rent relief program opens. Here Specifically, ERA2 grantees are required to comply with the applicable procurement standards set forth in 2 CFR 200.317 through 200.327 when procuring goods and services for these eligible purposes, and the allowability of expenses related to affordable rental housing and eviction prevention purposes will be subject to the Cost Principles set forth in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E. 4 Expenses for transitional housing (i.e., any dwelling that is intended to provide temporary housing to formerly homeless persons for a period up to 24 months) or emergency shelters are not considered affordable rental housing projects and therefore are not eligible affordable rental housing purposes.. Grantees are required to submit reports in accordance with the additional guidance beginning with the first quarter of 2021 for ERA1 and the second quarter of 2021 for ERA2, with the first reports under the additional guidance being due in October 2021. Households renting manufactured housing or the parcel of land the manufactured home occupies may also receive assistance for utilities and other expenses related to housing, as detailed in FAQ 7 above. Rather, any direct and indirect administrative costs in ERA1 or ERA2 must be allocated by the grantee to either the provision of financial assistance or the provision of housing stability services. Grantees may rely on an attestation from the applicant regarding non-duplication with other government assistance in providing assistance to a household. Grantees may also establish reasonable procedures for combining the assistance provided for multiple households into a single bulk payment made to a utility or landlord. Throughout the process, you are fully able to check in with the government registry website to see what the status of Eligible eviction prevention purposes are defined in the same manner as housing stability services under FAQ 23; however, services provided with funds made available for eviction prevention purposes must serve very low-income families. And the clock is ticking: Under state law, landlords will be able Treasurys Office of Inspector General may require the collection of additional information in order to fulfill its oversight and monitoring requirements. So if you're one of those who've applied and are still waiting on your money, what can you practically do during this time? If all eligibility requirements are expressly addressed by the households self-attestation, the grantee is not required to collect additional income documentation, past due notices, or other eligibility-verification documents as described above or below. These protections would have expired on March 31, but now have been extended through June 30 by California's new legislation although that's only for people who applied for the rent relief program by March 31. In addition to not engaging in further collection efforts regarding the arrears that are paid or related fees or expenses, as a condition to receiving payment, Treasury strongly encourages grantees to require the landlord or utility provider to agree not to pursue any further collection efforts against the household and ensure that any reports to credit agencies will confirm the matters resolution. Methods for Income Determination: The statute establishing ERA1 provides that grantees may determine income eligibility based on either (i) the households total income for calendar year 2020, or (ii) sufficient confirmation of the households monthly income at the time of application, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary). The State of New Jersey has introduced protections to renter households who experienced economic hardships during the pandemic: All renter households with incomes below 120% of their county's Area Median Income are permanently protected against eviction or removal at any time for nonpayment of rent, habitual late payment of rent, or California's statewide moratorium on evictions expired last fall, on Sept. 30, 2021. How To Get $46 Billion of Covid-19 Rent Relief - Forbes fewer than half of those applicants have received payments, any landlord wanting to evict a tenant for failing to pay rent as a result of COVID hardship needs to first apply for rental relief, These protections would have expired on March 31. So, if you applied for rent relief on or before March 31 and the application is still pending, but youre getting an eviction notice, contact a lawyer.
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