The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) created the Texas Rent Relief program to help Texas renters pay rent and utility bills (including past due rent and utilities). We look at Texas Tech's award-winning magazine. Last note, I was approved for 12 months back rent pay and 3 months forward, so I am receiving help for 15 months total. Around that time, Johnson said she caught COVID-19 and had to miss a month of work. The Apartment Association of Greater Dallas has compiled a list of state and local rental assistance programs. 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). 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.) Scott and her husband had fallen behind on rent in June after Scott stopped working to take care of her youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, and the medical bills piled up. 2023 Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers. Both the federal and state government added enforcement provisions when they created the rent relief programs. Applications will be processed in the order received, prioritizing those facing evictions. Now, with a remaining $96 million in rent relief funds, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) re-opened the Texas Rent Relief Program (TRR) and online applications through the portal will be accepted for a limited time from March 14 to 28. 2 '.&& ,f1. But the program had fixed that error, the email said. On Jan. 27, Williamson County constables came to execute the eviction. 0000003018 00000 n 0000010218 00000 n And a large and growing percentage of that is over a year old at this point.. TRR is processing applications . Wilkinson said many people who tried to apply may need to go back and take extra steps to complete the application. Meanwhile, Scott is trying to rebuild her life. And frankly, theyre tired.. As the tenant was evicted from the unit associated with this application, pursuant to program policies, rental arrears are only approved for the time period the tenant was in the unit, the email reads. For Landlords who applied for unpaid or future rent on behalf of tenants. Lifestyle Evaluating the. Were adding added significant resources to attack the backlog and get the money out the door. 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. Some local governments still have money for rent help, but those funds may soon run out, as well. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. I shouldnt have.. Approval Notification: The landlord, tenant, and/or utility provider will now be notified automatically that a payment has been approved if an email address is present in the Neighborly system, and the notification will include the payment breakout. Returning applicants who have not received the maximum allowed 18 months of assistance for rent and/or utility bills can submit an Additional Funding Request via their existing online user account. You cant get paid directly, and also break the promises you made that were designed to keep someone in their home.. Arts + Culture If you need help paying rent in Katy, or other financial assistance, reach out to Katy Christian Ministries for more information on their 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. -Per federal guidelines for Emergency Rental Assistance funding, Texas Rent Relief will provide a completed IRS Form 1099-MISC to all landlords and utility providers that received at least $600 in assistance from the program during the 2021 . . 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. 0000048118 00000 n To qualify for rental assistance from the Texas program, tenants had to fall below a certain income level, prove they experienced some kind of financial hardship during the pandemic and make the case that they would be at risk of losing their home if they didnt receive rent relief. Just as the program launched, the state was hit with the massive winter storm in February, which sidelined a third of the contracted phone operators for days, the report said. 4 0 obj In late January 2023, Local Profile reported that starting this March, the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to cut SNAPs COVID-19 emergency benefits, adding even more pressure on families who are struggling with rising rents and inflation pushing up prices. 0000006939 00000 n You can find the names and phone numbers of these organizations below. According to the TRR portal, the program provided over $2 billion in emergency funds since its launch, helping more than 310,000 Texas families remain stably housed during the pandemic. Weve been expecting there to be aid [for renters] for months and months so there should have been a plan in place.. 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. Yet they still pushed us out.. 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). By the end of March, only 250 people had actually got help paying for rent out of 72,000 completed applications. This is our third or fourth round of rental assistance for some of these folks, and the documentation process for each round has been different and the application process has been a little bit different, he said. Researchers have offered estimates of past-due rent in the U.S. ranging from $8.4 billion to $52.6 billion. <> Shes impressed by how many do persevere. The state-level program meant to help both Texas renters impacted financially by the pandemic and their landlords announced Thursday morning that it would stop taking new applications for . For checking the Texas rent relief application status, you can either go online or call them up at 1-833-989-7368. Around the time of the eviction, Scott and her husband separated. According to the program rules laid out in the agreement Gates landlord signed July 13 to receive the funds, if a landlord receives rent relief money after evicting the tenant, theyre supposed to send the money back to TDHCA within 10 days. 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. Her landlord gave her until the end of May to do so. Mailbag: Evermore. TXHAF is administered by TDHCA with funding provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 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. Rosales said shes heard landlords say at eviction court that they're already so frustrated and tired by the slow pace and confusing nature of rental assistance programs that theyd rather evict tenants than hold out for assistance. This tool helps find state and local rent and utility assistance near your location. 0000030653 00000 n Most went into the statewide Texas Rent Relief program, and the rest when to city and county governments. I can understand an apartment complex coming at this point in the process and saying, It's time to figure out what's going to happen here or move forward, Musselman said. The Texas Rent Relief Program was launched by TDHCA on February 15th to solve this problem and bring relief to millions across the United States. Events / Networking Opportunities Information in this guide is subject to change at any time. 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. View The Texas Eviction Diversion Program Highlights. ) P.O. Mar 1, 2023. events. By the end of March, only 250 people had actually got help paying for rent out of. Applications in this set-aside will be processed first to decrease application processing time and increase the likelihood of evictions being diverted. This time period has been shortened based on direction from the Department of Treasury. Member Editorials (MEMBERS ONLY) HWmo6_qf&..WVmFJ=GRIOtK^Sq|}"SiSm%S@xS|,NXAC,g uW,,myVH!eMJA^Te**gNx7{uFw vW\uMru JWMu;C,^NJvgVt>(,Y*-.=-zq5t:ATi:w#GG7/V=ohM{3wi5omHo;lpFEMBL%%-P|=fsWv@>f;&X6gji#~L8Uhg JVt`E\L+@j8J:,acf)#--iU)'bc/s/PK3d JC#p0;~mY>VORqiK:JOFrPTgfF:*c! The Texas Rent Relief Program will shut down its application portal at 5 p.m. on Friday. Applicants must still provide all other required program documentation and must provide evidence of the notice of utility disconnection. All past-due rent and utilities (back to March 13, 2020) will be paid first. Some areas still ban evictions outright. But it's not a fast process. 0000002829 00000 n As of last week, $20.1 million in rent relief has been recaptured, TDHCA spokesperson Kristina Tirloni said, adding that not all of that was connected to allegations of fraud, waste or abuse. In these cases, payments will be made directly to the tenant, who then is required to pay the landlord. The statewide TEDP is funded through a set-aside of the Texas Rent Relief Program (texasrentrelief.com), which launched February 15, 2021, stopped accepting new applications for rental assistance as of November 5, 2021, and committed 99% of all total funds by January 13, 2022. Your application status will flash one of the following statuses as provided in the chart. Other organizations That help paying rent in Houston. Interests When Cherice Scott received a notice last September that she, her husband and their four children would soon be kicked out of their Katy apartment, she said employees at the complex told her not to worry about it. It got off to a rocky start when it signed up just a few hundred people in the first few months. 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. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Gates, a 42-year-old Round Rock resident, saw her hours as a temp working in guest services at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport cut in half, and by January 2021 she was behind on rent for her two-bedroom apartment. 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. The state is using the more than $1 billion in money from the latest federal COVID-19. What do I do? Prior to 2019, there was often confusion about what counted as a "reasonable" late fee. Best of luck to you and anyone needing this assistance. Hosted every Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m., by the. If you live in Texas no matter if you are landlord or tenants this program will help you, the simplest way is to apply for Texas Emergency rent assistance for covid 19, Visit the website, Create a account, and apply online. 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.. ;+h-WZXi ZrzOK4-X6~PR,JtV J5G! Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. 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. I am being evicted for not paying rent. Home ownership 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. Johnsons landlord a partnership owned by Mark Musemeche, a Houston developer had already accepted more than $4,200 in federal money in August to pay four months of rent, according to a copy of Johnsons rent ledger she provided to the Tribune. If both payments came from our program, the duplicate payment must be returned. Two landlords, like Scotts, evicted their tenants in the period between the initial rent relief application and when the government money arrived and then kept it an apparent violation of the programs requirements for landlords. For more information about fair housing, funding opportunities, or services in your area, please visitwww.tdhca.state.tx.usor theLearn about Fair Housing in Texaspage. Anticipated time to receive payment: 7-14 days Request for assistance has been denied. Call to schedule an appointment with a legal representative. Johnsons lawyer recorded the call. You know, we just had the problems from [the pandemic] last year, which everybody did.. Box 580314 Let the judge know if any of these things have happened. 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. A group of Austin-area lawmakers state Reps. Celia Israel, Sheryl Cole, Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa, Donna Howard and Eddie Rodriguez alerted TDHCA this week that they have seen alarming calls from constituents whose rent relief money went to the wrong address, and called on the agency to fix the problem. Housing experts say they expect expiration of the eviction rules will make the already spotty protections of the eviction moratorium even more unevenly applied. TDHCA operates the state hotline where complaints originate. Governor Abbott and TDHCA launched the Texas Rent Relief program in February 2021 the first statewide rent and utility assistance program for qualifying households throughout Texas. Member Grand Openings (MEMBERS ONLY) Neighborhood Centers Inc: 713-665-3600. Eviction Intervention Program For Renters If you live within Harris County or Houston city limits and your landlord has already taken you to court for eviction, you may be eligible for eviction intervention rental assistance through the Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program. 0000032455 00000 n Updated: 8 AM Central. Texas Rent Relief Program has $96M remaining to help Texans affected by the pandemic. Despite that, the property manager told Musselman they wanted to proceed with the case, Gates said. The property manager quickly confirmed that they had and Jasso tossed the eviction. Tenants in New Units: Tenants who are living at a new address may request funds through the AFR process for the rent expenses of the new primary residence. The federal government and the state of Texas both had people like Scott and her family in mind when they hurriedly created a safety net for struggling renters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But housing advocates and lawyers who represent tenants facing eviction say they routinely see cases of Texas landlords accepting thousands of dollars from the government and evicting the tenants the money was intended to help. Less than two weeks after Gates eviction, she spotted something in her online account with the rent relief program: A pair of checks totaling $12,650 had cleared the property owners bank account. According to CW33, TDHCA executive director, Bobby Wilkinson advised those applying to gather all necessary paperwork ahead of time to have them ready by March 14, 2023, when applications will open. requested do not exceed the program limit of 15 months. 2. TAAHP does not have regulatory or compliance authority for any affordable housing communities or developments. Newly homeless, Gates stood on the curb in the cold guarding her belongings until a friend could get off work to help her move them. The application software issue has been resolved. You will be asked to create an account and then . The state's $1.9 billion rental assistance program, which launched during the pandemic, has helped more . The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, passed in December 2020, included $25 billion in urgently needed emergency rental assistance (ERA1) for tenants with low incomes and established the Emergency Rental Assistance program (ERA) administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). 0000025788 00000 n Find programs to help you with rent or utility payments, help you find a rent-reduced apartment, help you find emergency housing or homeless shelters, and more. trailer <]/Prev 155979>> startxref 0 %%EOF 48 0 obj <>stream After logging in, click on the application status and check with the details provided. You cant have it both ways with Texas Rent Relief, Stamm said. You can also get financial assistance for rent, food, and other expenses by turning to other organizations. V o l . 0000078063 00000 n In Texas, two state agencies the TDHCA, which oversees the statewide rent relief program, and the State Auditors Office have the authority to look into allegations of waste, fraud or abuse within the program. As of Feb. 17, Gates former landlord hadnt done so, Stamm said. 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. 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. "Funding is limited, so anyone who needs help paying their rent and utility bills should review the program requirements now, gather all the necessary paperwork ahead of time, and be ready to apply on March 14.". Info about the decision to end the program and eviction diversion is included as well. We're thankful for the opportunity to re-open the application portal for two weeks to help more Texas tenants and landlords," said Bobby Wilkinson, TDHCA Executive Director. 0000026187 00000 n The landlord submits any information or documentation to receive payment as part of a rent relief program. I am amazed at the strength and resilience that these folks have to figure out how to get on the internet, when they dont have internet at home, and their resourcefulness in getting rent relief at this point, she said. Community cy,a`G|~OOsQ>gR-"F HT$uUD$>@he^? You can even upload documents for an attorney to review. As of Wednesday, the program has assisted more than 300,000 households. He was asked whether he planned to reduce the $42 million contract with Horne LLP due to the troubled rollout, and said his team is reviewing the contract. Tirloni said the agency doesnt track what portion of those clawed-back funds came from landlords found to have improperly evicted their tenants after receiving assistance or categorize what scenarios would result in recapturing the money. It takes away your pride and makes me feel like I failed as a parent. TDHCA has taken very seriously the responsibility of helping Texas renters and landlords overcome the financial burden brought on by the pandemic, Tirloni said. 4 0 obj <> endobj xref 0000032141 00000 n However, Tarrant County's Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), along with programs administered by the cities of Arlington and Fort Worth, will . Please reload the page and try again. I trusted them, Scott said. I think any landlord that accepted money or got money directly for rent absolutely should not have evicted anyone, Garcia said. Interests Our constituents experienced significant unreliability during an already challenging set of circumstances, all the while, both renters and landlords alike had unclear direction from TDHCA for weeks or months if and when the approved funds would finally arrive, the lawmakers wrote. Visit the TDHCA contact us page for information. Access Invoices & ReceiptsRequest W9Questions & Special Requests, Update Your ProfileRequest Company Name ChangeAdding/Removing EmployeesFrequently Asked QuestionsContact Us, Mailing Address2401 E 6th St, Ste 3037, PMB 153Austin, TX 78702Email UsPhone: 512-476-9901, Aug 20, 2021 | COVID19, Latest News, Newsletter. Is there any communication that were making, saying we messed up, give us a minute and give them a minute so that we can get them the relief that they need, and everyone will be made whole in a few weeks? Bernal asked. Stephanie Gates rental assistance check initially went to the wrong address and reached her landlord less than two weeks after she was evicted from her Round Rock home in January. Funds may not still be available by the time a household applies. This story has been updated to include comments from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. Theres no excuse, Rosales said. 0000002471 00000 n 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. Home 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. Starting October 10, 2022, all new utility assistance payments are issued directly to the tenant to ensure timely and accurate utility assistance payments. [n6[_.7jSz Whoops! ?$.#jq&LS1-b'u)N 2@x{'Y( V7\T ;z6!EDg"AGbDdWo,/si,TZp em;82os"zrD QV~ns+8ce1|NV ;H@>I]\IjA $_BM (2`n,e072 #q9u_)&er&s9%\!_kE\^9, The Tribune contacted government agencies involved in the program and found that none of them including the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which runs the state rent relief program track how often this happens. This page has answers to questions about the Texas Rent Relief Program for both landlords and tenants. Approvals have. 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. Texans shouldnt have to overcome so many bureaucratic and technological challenges just to get help that Congress already funded, Rosales said. endobj Then they mailed it to the wrong address twice and they want to evict me. Mon: 8 to 5pm. 8. The fund is designed to provide rent relief for renters experiencing financial hardship. Print Feedback. 0000023877 00000 n 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.