AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin renters have a few more days to apply for rental assistance through the city’s Relief of Emergency Needs for Tenants (RENT) Assistance program before millions of dollars in aid expire.
As of Wednesday, $12.9 million was still available and allocated for the program through federal CARES Act funding. Local governments must utilize this money before it expires on Dec. 30, but the City of Austin committed to dispersing the remainder of those funds to the “next round of randomly selected applicants.”
According to the city, they already disbursed more than $10 million and helped over 3,000 Austin families since August.
“The RENT program has helped thousands of local families to avoid eviction for non-payment of rent, allowing them to stay in their homes where they can be safe during the pandemic,” Michael Gerber, Housing Authority of the City of Austin President and CEO, said in a news release.
City housing officials are calling on more Austin renters who have experienced a COVID-19-related income loss to submit applications by Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 11:59 a.m.
Applicants must meet several requirements in order to be approved, including:
- Must live within Austin’s full purpose jurisdiction
- Must be currently on a lease or in a contractually bound rental relationship
- Must not be already receiving federal rental assistance
- Must not be a full-time student whose rent is paid by someone else
- Must provide documentation showing that you have experienced a COVID-19-related income loss, such as paystubs, unemployment notice, etc.
- Household gross annual income must be 80 percent or less of the Median Family Income
Additionally, Travis County’s Rental and Mortgage Assistance program still has more then $3 million in funds available to disperse, too. So far, their staff members distributed around half of the allotted $6.5 million dollars for rent and mortgage aide to county residents, and they are still processing applications.
Travis County Commissioners are expecting an update from county staff on this process at their Dec. 22 meeting.
KXAN’s Avery Travis will have more details on the progress of these two rent assistance programs, tonight on KXAN News.
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