STIMULUS BILL OF 2020 Senator Portman (R-OH) has been work-
ing hard to get a deal done on additional COVID-19 relief, and was a key negotiator on housing related issues, especially the Emer- gency Rental Assistance, detailed below. Additionally, Senators Portman and Brown participated in a bipartisan package that authorizes a second round of PPP loans for the hardest hit small businesses, additional unemployment benefits, support for health care providers, additional funding for vac- cine development and distribution, funding for testing and tracing, funding to help those battling addiction, and much more. It is anticipated that Ohio will receive about $778.1 million in rent relief dollars by late February. Fortunately, the $55+ million in Community Development Block Grant funding that the Ohio Development Services Agency recently allocated for the Home Relief Grant Program should cover the gap before the new funds reach our state. Cities and coun- ties with populations over 200,000 will receive a direct allocation of the Emergency Rental Assistance funds. This new set of funds will have different guidelines, mainly due to leadership by Senator Portman, providing for a block grant that is pretty hands off and gives states lots of flexibility. But there are a few key guardrails: • $25 billion for emergency rental assistance and utility pay- ments will be funded through the Coronavirus Relief Fund and administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury;
• Assistance can cover up to 12 months of back and forward rent, with an additional three months in certain cases;
• The CDC’s eviction moratorium will be extended one month to Jan. 31.
• Households below 80 percent area median income (AMI) are eligible for rental assistance funds if they qualified for unemployment insurance or experienced reduced household income or financial hardship due to the pandemic; and are at risk of homelessness or housing instability;
• States and localities must prioritize households below 50 percent of AMI and/or those who have been unemployed for 90 days;
• Property Owner/Managers can apply for assistance on the
resident’s behalf but tenant must cosign the application. Pay- ments must be used to pay the resident’s rental obligations;
• Cities and states can make payments directly to Property Owner/Managers or utility companies on behalf of renters. If a Property Owner/Manager refuses to accept rental assis- tance, it goes directly to resident to pay to Property Owner/ Managers or utility provider;
• Up to 10 percent of funds can be used to provide case man- agement and other services intended to help keep households stably housed;
• Extends the deadline for spending previously allocated Coronavirus Relief Funds to Dec. 31, 2021 Congress also passed fiscal year 2021 appropriations (for the
fiscal year that started October 2020) with increases for many of the regular housing and homelessness programs administered by HUD and the USDA. The spending bill likely provides enough funding to renew existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher program and Project-Based Rental Assistance. Congress also increased many other HUD programs and canceled the Continuums of Care funding competition for 2021.
CORONAVIRUS
CLICK HERE TO SEE GUIDANCE TIPS 8 APARTMENT ADVANTAGE 31
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