Landlords and tenants are particularly put on notice that 18 U.S.C. "To date, Texas Rent Relief has served . 0000020386 00000 n
Payment cannot be released until 90 days after the initial disbursement date; however, be advised that review and approval timelines will often exceed 90 days from the last disbursement. Depending on each applicants needs and eligibility, this could include past-due payments or a combination of past-due and up to three months of current and future payments made on their behalf. Reporting: On February 15, 2023 Treasury released ERA1 & ERA2 Quarterly Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q3 2022; January 2023. Despite that, the property manager told Musselman they wanted to proceed with the case, Gates said. 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. Requests for Proposals/Quotes (MEMBERS ONLY). ) As of August 11, 2021, TRR has paid over $658 million in rent and utility assistance to assist over 107,000 households, and funding is still available. <>/Metadata 393 0 R/ViewerPreferences 394 0 R>>
That makes removing barriers to helping families catch up on the rent even more vital, Rosales said. an apparent violation of the programs requirements for landlords, survey gauging how the end of a federal moratorium on evictions was affecting tenants. Print Feedback. Eligibility for all applicants who have not yet received the maximum amount of 15 months of assistance will receive an email invitation to submit an additional request for assistance 60 days after their previous payment was disbursed. Some rent relief programs, including the Texas Rent Relief Program, will make your landlord forgo all unreasonable late fees. 0000014023 00000 n
One landlord received federal money through the Texas Rent Relief program and later chose not to renew their tenants lease which was legal in that case. Landlords can get up to 15 months of rent paid through this program, but only if they don't evict. Nov. 9, 2021 - (Tarrant County) - As of Friday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m., the Texas Rent Relief Program (TRR), the State of Texas' rental assistance program, stopped accepting applications. 0000003417 00000 n
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. 0000008211 00000 n
To help with emergency housing needs, HAP has two components: rental assistance and relocation assistance for qualified households facing housing instability. About the Texas Rent Relief Program Both landlords and tenants were able to use this website to create an account and submit their application. We have more than $1 million of unpaid rent dating back to March of last year, said Ian Mattingly, president of LumaCorp, which manages about 7,000 rental apartments in Texas. Researchers have offered estimates of past-due rent in the U.S. ranging from $8.4 billion to $52.6 billion. Jeff Williams, a Harris County justice of the peace, had approved the eviction without Scott present in court a typical outcome in eviction cases when tenants dont show up to their hearings. Events / Networking Opportunities 2021 Program Information. Have you subscribed to our free weekly newsletter? Cities and counties that operate local rental assistance programs have $368 million. Yet they still pushed us out.. Visit TexasRentRelief.com for more program highlights. Let the judge know if any of these things have happened. Appeals must be submitted within 30 days. View The Texas Eviction Diversion Program Highlights. After logging in, click on the application status and check with the details provided. KERA also reached out to Gov. Founded in 1997, the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers (TAAHP) is a non-profit trade association serving as the primary advocate and leading resource for the affordable housing industry in Texas. Weeks after her eviction, Scott received an email from Texas Rent Relief on Nov. 9 acknowledging that it had initially sent the check to the wrong address. We cant wait to welcome you in person and online to the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, our multiday celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the days news all taking place just steps away from the Texas Capitol from Sept. 22-24. Do you value our journalism? Texas' rent relief program has been plagued by problems that slow payments and could prompt evictions According to a legislative report, of the 176,000 people who have begun applications. In other words, Scott had already been evicted, but Texas Rent Relief was letting the landlord keep the money more than $11,000 in apparent contradiction of its own policy. 0000032455 00000 n
If issues are discovered or brought to our attention, like payments sent to an incorrect address, or payments sent to a landlord who has evicted the tenant, we will take corrective measures, like recapture or other necessary steps.. Applicants that have received help from the program before but have not received the maximum of 18 months of assistance allowed, can submit an additional funding request using their existing online user account. TXHAF is administered by TDHCA with funding provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 1 0 obj
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The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is committed to expanding fair housing choice and opportunities for Texans through the administration and funding of affordable housing and homeownership opportunities, weatherization, and community-based services with the help of for-profits, nonprofits, and local governments. We believe owners have done their best to try to understand the intricacies of the program and comply with its requirements, Mintz said. Calls to Musemeche were not returned. 0000015708 00000 n
from 8 AM - 9 PM ET. Shes impressed by how many do persevere. Texans shouldnt have to overcome so many bureaucratic and technological challenges just to get help that Congress already funded, Rosales said. Landlord Application Information. A switch to a new software caused system outages and forced applicants to reapply. Wilkinson said hed be open to exploring more options to get that message out. You cant get paid directly, and also break the promises you made that were designed to keep someone in their home.. Any allegations that either a renter or a rental property owner isnt following the program rules should be reported to the program to be investigated, he said. 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. Eligible households can apply for assistance online at TexasRentRelief.com or over the phone by calling the TRR call center at 833-9TX-RENT (833-989-7368). Thieves had walked off with their electronics. It hurts, that really hurts. Depending on eligibility and needs, this could include past-due payments or a combination of past-due and up to three months of current and future payments. 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. Many people, especially women, have been unable to work because of child care responsibilities. Eligibility: For anyone who currently rents in the United States and resides in any of the properties Esusu works with. Federal aid has gotten to only a fraction of Texans applying for assistance because they're behind on rent and trying to avoid being evicted. The program was originally launched in February 2021 and is administered by the . In her case, the check arrived in time but went to the wrong place. See our Eviction page for information on the CDC's eviction moratorium and other eviction topics. Musselman sided with Gates landlord and granted the eviction. When the state sent the rent relief check to the wrong address, Scott said the staff assured her they were working to get the money re-sent. Here we are at the beginning of April and still only about 200 Texas families have actually received direct help from this billion dollar program, which is unacceptable, and we need to continue to get this worked out quickly, committee chair state Rep. Philip Cortez, a San Antonio Democrat, told Texas Public Radio. Eligible households can apply for assistance online at TexasRentRelief.com or over the phone by calling the TRR call center at 833-9TX-RENT (833-989-7368). What do I do? Community The program application now allows these applicants to self-attest to their household income, meeting program requirements instead of uploading income documentation. Whoops! If you need assistance with a previously submitted application, our customer service staff can assist you by phone by calling 1-833-9TX-RENT (1-833-989-7368). Your application status will flash one of the following statuses as provided in the chart. The landlord applies for rent relief, or 2. Tirloni, the TDHCA spokesperson, declined to discuss individual tenants cases, including Scotts, citing state law that prevents TDHCA from disclosing information about people who receive benefits from programs administered by the agency. 2023 Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers. Policy and Regulatory Updates (MEMBERS ONLY) Evaluating the. Of the roughly 200 that have completed applications, only two have been approved for funding. Scott wanted to know: What happened to the rent relief money? How are landlords going to have faith in a rental relief program, and how are they going to hang on their tenants when this is happening? Rosales said. Mon: 8 to 5pm. Texas received more than $2 billion out of the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package President Joe Biden signed into law last year, to set up the Texas Rent Relief program, designed to help such families stay in their homes as the pandemic triggered a tsunami of business closures and hundreds of thousands of layoffs. This time period has been shortened based on direction from the Department of Treasury. You cant have it both ways with Texas Rent Relief, Stamm said. It turns out the state program had sent the check in September to the wrong address. After weeks of phone calls, a Texas Rent Relief program staffer told Scott that her former landlord had indeed received the rent relief money in mid-November more than $11,000, enough to cover the six months back rent they owed.