But none of the agencies contacted by the Tribune would say whether any landlord has been credibly accused of taking rent relief money and improperly ousting their tenants, or whether they have imposed penalties on landlords for doing so. The application process is managed through a software application called Neighborly. There have been nearly 50,000 eviction filings in Houston since the beginning of the pandemic. endobj While hes cautiously optimistic that the Texas Rent Relief programs problems have largely been addressed, fundamental questions remain unanswered. Altogether, about $2 billion of the federal rental and utility assistance funds approved by Congress last year were earmarked for Texas. For example, the program bars landlords from accepting rent relief payments after they evict a tenant. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) created this COVID-19 relief program in February of 2021. TDHCA announced that they would be accepting new applications in March of 2023 to distribute the remaining funds. Tenants who are eligible for an Additional Funding Request may submit requests for rental and utility assistance for the current month and two future months. The Texas Rent Relief Program will be run by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. 0000012097 00000 n 1 0 obj But none of that recovered money is helping tenants ousted from their homes, said Julia Ordua, Southeast Texas regional director for Texas Housers, a nonprofit low-income housing advocacy group. Johnson, a manager of a hair salon and certified nursing assistant, had asked the program in October for help covering rent while she recovered from giving birth to her son and couldnt work. Disclosure: The Texas Apartment Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. All those folks acted in good faith on something that we offered them, that theyre by definition entitled toand by some sort of error, theyre not getting the relief that they need, and then the state Supreme Court let its rules around the eviction moratorium lapse, Bernal said. Some tenants who spoke to the Tribune about their cases said they called a hotline used to report fraud, waste and abuse in the state rent relief program and never heard back about their complaints. 0000001196 00000 n AUSTIN, Texas, March 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) announced it will re-open the Texas Rent Relief (TRR) application portal from March 14-28 in order to accept new applications for a remaining $96M in TRR funds. 2. Texas Rent Relief Program The idea of landlords taking rent relief dollars and still evicting tenants is outrageous, she said, and could warrant investigation. Eligibility: For anyone who currently rents in the United States and resides in any of the properties Esusu works with. 0000026104 00000 n Applications can be also made . This Plano family got evicted after the Texas Rent Relief program paid the wrong landlord. Diana Johnson, 35, was waiting on rent relief in January when her landlord tried to evict her and her seven children from their three-bedroom apartment in Southeast Dallas. In February, Texas launched a program to help people who had missed rent payments because of the pandemic. April 8, 2022 Its awesome. The TDHCA runs the Texas Rent Relief program. The more I sit here and think about it, I just know to just go ahead and do what I need to do, Johnson said. Our Legal Help guide has information on free legal hotlines, legal clinics, and legal aid organizations, as well as information on how to find a lawyer who could represent you. If both payments came from our program, the duplicate payment must be returned. The department . To a question about whether the application website is mobile-friendly, he replied, its mobile-compatible. Then in December, the property owner filed an eviction case against Gates and gave her a notice to vacate. 0000020386 00000 n Expected time in this status: less than one week. A Texas rent relief program has been plagued by problems. In February, Texas launched a program to help people who had missed rent payments because of the pandemic. Sign up here. Policy and Regulatory Updates (MEMBERS ONLY) The morning of her March 18 eviction hearing, a Texas Rent Relief staffer told Johnson that her landlord had cashed the check two days earlier and gave her the check number. While many have gone back to work, the unemployment rate remains significantly higher than it was before the pandemic. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has received approximately $1.3 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance funds from the newly passed Coronavirus Relief Bill Rental Assistance Program. Updated: 8 AM Central. The Texas Rent Relief (TRR) program provides Texas tenants with financial help with rent and utility bills. Researchers have offered estimates of past-due rent in the U.S. ranging from $8.4 billion to $52.6 billion. To get that protection, you'll need to attest on a declaration form that you meet a few requirements, such as that you earned less than $99,000 in 2020 or 2021. The . I trusted them, Scott said. Eligible households can apply online or over the phone for first-time or additional program assistance. In those cases, the check was initially sent to the wrong property and only arrived after the tenant was kicked out. State Bar of Texas Lawyer Referral Service, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), NLIHC COVID-19 State and Local Rental Assistance, Housing Legal Advice Hotline (St. Mary's School of Law), Nearly 600,000 Texans Will Lose Access to a Program That Prevented Electricity Shut-Offs During the Pandemic on Oct. 1 (8/27/2020), Texas Regulators Vote to Ban Residential Utility Shut-Offs During Pandemic While Buoying Companies (3/26/2020), Please take our patron satisfaction survey. The rent relief checks cleared RDRHs bank account on Feb. 4 less than two weeks after Gates was evicted. <> 2023 Local Profile is a registered trademark of Community Profile LLC. I"OqC)RrQBY( ,VN?4Tmj|e@O)&$O&WrVRKT0X5Vrs'O. {wKPK?c- C <=fL5h|'(d-$7(r ~9 qFP9v8i-LKp Nx@`{>-aB58c$f_Q. KERA also reached out to Gov. Find the program in your area by state , territory, or tribe and apply for Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA). cy,a`G|~OOsQ>gR-"F HT$uUD$>@he^? TAAHP does not facilitate applications for affordable housing. [n6[_.7jSz But Musselman expressed sympathy for the landlord, noting that they had gone 11 months without rent from Gates. This interactive map and searchable database from the National Low Income Housing Coalition can be used to find state and local emergency rental assistance programs near you. The program was originally launched in February 2021 and is administered by the Emergency Rental Assistance Program Funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a federal effort to mitigate the affordable housing crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Attempts to reach the property owner RDRH Holdings Inc., an Austin-based corporation and its president were unsuccessful. SOURCE Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Cision Distribution 888-776-0942 But the program had fixed that error, the email said. Check status periodically. This guide is updated to reflect information pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she has spent thousands of dollars on application fees to at least 10 homes and apartment complexes and all of them have denied her because she now has an eviction on her record. If you have evidence, be sure to bring it to court. An employee at Blazers office who answered the phone declined to answer questions. SACRAMENTO - California's COVID-19 Rent Relief Program is reaching a significant milestone today - by the end of the day, more than $1 billion in funding will be obligated - meaning the money has either been paid or approved for payment and awaiting disbursement - and will assist over 74,000 additional households. Approvals have. Shes impressed by how many do persevere. Find a complete list of them here. The State Auditors Office declined to say whether it has launched any investigations into potential fraud, waste and abuse of the program. 5309 Decker Dr. 281.424.5752. Community They may also request assistance with any arrears that have not already been covered by previous TRR assistance or another provider, so long as the total months of assistance for each type of assistance (for example, rent, gas, water, etc.) This time period has been shortened based on direction from the Department of Treasury. Those constituents were told they were unable to receive their eligible assistance while the agency recouped the funds, the lawmakers wrote Thursday to TDHCA board Chair Leo Vasquez. 0000068016 00000 n Applications to the relief program can be submitted beginning March 14. The landlord submits any information or documentation to receive payment as part of a rent relief program. Regardless of your immigration status, you will be eligible for rent relief if you have been adversely affected by COVID-19 or are . It is kind of a miracle that they are able to do it.. The Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund Program (TXHAF) provides financial assistance to qualified Texas homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage and related expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For checking the Texas rent relief application status, you can either go online or call them up at 1-833-989-7368. For others, health issues made going to work unsafe while the pandemic raged out of control. By the end of March, only 250 people had actually got help paying for rent out of 72,000 completed applications. On January 24,2023, Treasury released the reallocation amounts for ERA2 Quarter 2 General Pool Reallocation and Designated Voluntary Reallocations; Guidance: On January 5, 2023 Treasury published an updated version of the ERA1 . As of July 26, more than 95,000 households have received assistance from the Texas Rent Relief Program, and almost $600 million in relief has been paid out, according to the TDHCA. The Apartment Association of Greater Dallas has compiled a list of state and local rental assistance programs. According to the National Housing Law Project, 86% of the 119 lawyers across the country who responded to a survey gauging how the end of a federal moratorium on evictions was affecting tenants said they had seen cases where landlords either declined to apply for assistance from rent relief programs or took the money and proceeded to kick out their tenants. While applications can be made online through the programs portal, the TDHCA call center at (833) 9TX-RENT (833-989-7368) will be available to submit applications over the phone. What do I do? Show us with your support. Health The first payment never came because they had a Covid outbreak. First-time TRR applicants may be eligible for up to 18 months of rent and utility bill assistance, either with past due payments or a combination of past due and up to three months of current and future payments made on their behalf. At the federal level, that job falls to the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Inspector General. If tenants feel they have been unjustly evicted, they can appeal the eviction, Mintz said. At the moment, Gates is bouncing back and forth between her fathers house and a friends while she appeals her eviction in an attempt to strike it from her record and make it easier for her to find a new place. Texas Rent Relief gave me a second (or duplicate) payment for a tenant's month of rent. It got off to a rocky start when it signed up just a few hundred people in the first few months. Show us with your support. TDHCA is using the funds to help Texas renters pay rent and utility bills (including past due rent and utilities). I hope everyone gets the assistance that they need. Utilities, Clothing for Children, Employment assistance services. 0000048118 00000 n Funds may not still be available by the time a household applies. It turns out the state program had sent the check in September to the wrong address. Greg Abbott for comment on the report. Have you subscribed to our free weekly newsletter? Texas law allows landlords to collect "reasonable" late fees if any portion of the rent remains unpaid more than two full days after it was due. When asked if he had a set targets for performance going forward, he said I can and I will, but that he wanted to for a couple weeks before committing to specific goals. The next month, their landlord started the eviction process, even though Scott, 37, had taken the rental office staffs advice and requested help from Texas $2 billion, federally backed rental assistance fund.
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