If you have evidence, be sure to bring it to court. 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. A switch to a new software caused system outages and forced applicants to reapply. Scott had landed a new job as a dietician at a local hospital when she returned from work one afternoon in early October to find most of her belongings spread out on the lawn and the locks changed. TAAHP Scholarships You know, we just had the problems from [the pandemic] last year, which everybody did.. Mar 1, 2023. events. But receiving rent relief dollars wasnt guaranteed, so some landlords filed for eviction in case the money didnt come through and as a last resort after months of going without rent, Mintz said. Cities and counties that operate local rental assistance programs have $368 million. Access Invoices & ReceiptsRequest W9Questions & Special Requests, Update Your ProfileRequest Company Name ChangeAdding/Removing EmployeesFrequently Asked QuestionsContact Us, Mailing Address2401 E 6th St, Ste 3037, PMB 153Austin, TX 78702Email UsPhone: 512-476-9901, Aug 20, 2021 | COVID19, Latest News, Newsletter. A portion of the funds have been set-aside specifically for households whose landlords have already sued for eviction in their local court. x]s6(4A y;4N}PmT\INvB/$( However, Tarrant County's Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), along with programs administered by the cities of Arlington and Fort Worth, will . The program has assisted more than 6,000 households in the state thus far. According to a legislative report, of the 176,000 people who have begun applications for rental assistance, just over 1,000 have had their applications approved. 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. 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). an apparent violation of the programs requirements for landlords, survey gauging how the end of a federal moratorium on evictions was affecting tenants. We've provided over $2B in emergency funds to help Texas renters pay rent and utility bills (including past due rent and utilities). A collection of state and federal agencies including the TDHCA are tasked with looking into allegations of fraud, waste and abuse in rent relief programs. Home ownership 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. 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. COVID-19 You can also call the TDHCA's fraud hotline if you think your landlord may be mishandling the funds: (833) 61-FRAUD or (833) 613-7283. Librarians at the State Law Library can provide information about the law, but cannot give legal advice. This story has been updated to include comments from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. The state of Texas has more than one billion dollars to give out to people who need help paying their bills. TDHCA announced that they would be accepting new applications in March of 2023 to distribute the remaining funds. Regardless of your immigration status, you will be eligible for rent relief if you have been adversely affected by COVID-19 or are . Scott wanted to know: What happened to the rent relief money? Most went into the statewide Texas Rent Relief program, and the rest when to city and county governments. There have been nearly 50,000 eviction filings in Houston since the beginning of the pandemic. 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. After submitting, applicants should watch for communication from TRR in case additional information is needed for application. KERA also reached out to Gov. All Rights Reserved.. Plano Dentist Pleaded Guilty To COVID-19-Related Fraud, $22.8 Million Grant To Help Prevent Homelessness In Dallas And Collin Counties, North Texas Judge Blocks Student Loan Forgiveness, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. 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. Hope this timeline helps someone! Houston, TX 77258. Business Then in December, the property owner filed an eviction case against Gates and gave her a notice to vacate. Sign up for our Friends of TAAHP email list to learn more about TAAHP, critical industry issues, and hear about upcoming event and education opportunities. The Texas Rent Relief Program will be run by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs. 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. 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. The state is using the more than $1 billion in money from the latest federal COVID-19. Researchers have offered estimates of past-due rent in the U.S. ranging from $8.4 billion to $52.6 billion. Applications will be processed in the order received, prioritizing those facing evictions. QAP Alerts (MEMBERS ONLY) The program will also have a call . The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs also offers a website about this program. "To date, Texas Rent Relief has served more than 316,000 households affected by the pandemic. Landlords and tenants are particularly put on notice that 18 U.S.C. Advocacy Alerts Thieves had walked off with their electronics. Please reload the page and try again. Neighborhood Centers Inc: 713-665-3600. But she still hasnt found a place to live. 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. 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. 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. 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. Landlord Application Information. Around that time, Johnson said she caught COVID-19 and had to miss a month of work. By clicking the plus sign by one of the listed programs, the page will expand and provide the full details of that program. 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. 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. The TRR portal will accept new applications starting Tuesday, March 14 at 8 a.m. CT through Tuesday, March 28 at 11:59 p.m. CT, to help eligible households with rent and utility payments. To receive help from Katy Christian Ministries you must live in one of the following zip codes: 77084, 77094, 77406, 77423, 77441, 77449, 77450, 77464, 77476, 77485, 77493, 77494 Since February the state of Texas has paid landlords more than one billion dollars for tenants who can't afford to pay rent. The email and template I was provided: Support@texasrentrelief.com Subject: Your Tenant case id. Scotts former landlord Blazer Real Estate Services, a Houston property management company did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment. An employee at the apartment complex, Crestshire Village Apartments, declined to comment. A scathing staff report from the Texas House Urban Affairs Committee released Monday details a host of issues that have plagued the more than $1 billion rent relief program. 0000078000 00000 n Failure to respond will delay application review and timeline for approved payments. 2021 Program Information. Applications to the relief program can be submitted beginning March 14. Tenants who are requesting AFR and have remained in the same unit as their original request and for whom the months of assistance requested as part of the AFR are outside of the term for the lease submitted with the tenants initial application (including if the lease is now month-to-month), or if the tenant did not provide a lease as part of their initial application, verbal confirmation with the tenant or landlord to confirm the tenant is still in the unit is acceptable proof of tenancy. Applicant will receive an email notification of approval. Member Grand Openings (MEMBERS ONLY) In late March she started a new job teaching at an early learning center. Cherice Scotts landlord evicted her and her family in October, then cashed a check for rental assistance funds intended to keep them housed. The public is also invited to share such concerns. Women In Business. Policy and Regulatory Updates (MEMBERS ONLY) 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. Read on for a look at these new changes, and visit our Rent and Legal Assistance page on the COVID-19 & Texas Law guide for more information. <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 12 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 792 612] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> 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. The program application now allows these applicants to self-attest to their household income, meeting program requirements instead of uploading income documentation. Residents of McNair, Baytown, Highlands or Chambers County. Mailbag: Evermore. Avenue 360 (formerly Bearing Omega and Houston Area Community Services) Web. %PDF-1.7 % 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. 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. stream And only 250 of payments have been sent. 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. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) created this COVID-19 relief program in February of 2021. The application process is managed through a software application called Neighborly. 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. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. 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. 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. Prior to 2019, there was often confusion about what counted as a "reasonable" late fee. 0000002829 00000 n When tickets go on sale in May, Tribune members will save big. While hes cautiously optimistic that the Texas Rent Relief programs problems have largely been addressed, fundamental questions remain unanswered. Texas Housing Conference 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). TDHCA has taken very seriously the responsibility of helping Texas renters and landlords overcome the financial burden brought on by the pandemic, Tirloni said. 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. 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). Payment in Progress If your request has been approved Tenant and landlord, if participating, will receive email notifying of approval and, separately, to set up payment in Bill.com. 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. 0000047797 00000 n T!KE) A8(x;)-GlrHqZ:%>)c#x/MoJ5K=Tj=M,dIj)h MQ7ey#5xp uwA4@!5GM3e mXI#JR!g.H?##B-|qz^^(p7r`>G>M'PF4LLLu*n_"!/N`nxxbQ9CkK4eSB[Rl7x,E $R6W9203#g~=jxPcIyH.MSLhuY9K^cPM|>Q|hfb#PxFAcL,/>~5W(oqXiU&u The state's $1.9 billion rental assistance program, which launched during the pandemic, has helped more . Whoops! ?$.#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, How are we doing? 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. The fund is designed to provide rent relief for renters experiencing financial hardship. Even if the programs software and staffing struggles have been addressed, Rosales still worries that the programs reliance on online applications will leave eligible renters unable to apply. Please take our patron satisfaction survey! I trusted them, Scott said. The first payment never came because they had a Covid outbreak. Job Listings What is clear is that a lot of Texans could use the help of the Texas Rent Relief program. 2401 E 6th Street, Ste 3037, PMB 153, Austin, TX 78702. 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. Do you value our journalism? But the program had fixed that error, the email said. Theres no excuse, Rosales said. In order to receive federal rent relief funds through the state, landlords had to sign an agreement that forbids them from evicting tenants for nonpayment during the time period covered by the assistance. Are you a Texas resident looking for affordable housing? Texas Rent Relief approved help for me August 27th. Prior to any payment being made to a tenant directly, TRR will make three attempts to request that the landlord participates in the program via email, phone, or text, over no less than a 5 calendar-day period. 5309 Decker Dr. 281.424.5752. In February, Texas launched a program to help people who had missed rent payments because of the pandemic. Sign up here. For checking the Texas rent relief application status, you can either go online or call them up at 1-833-989-7368. Monday-Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. CST Help is available in multiple languages. Rental assistance payments will generally be made directly to landlords participating in the program, unless they cannot be reached, their relationship with the tenant application cannot be established in a timely manner, or they do not agree to accept the payment. Community ;+h-WZXi ZrzOK4-X6~PR,JtV J5G! And frankly, theyre tired.. 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. Calls to Musemeche were not returned. I did everything right, and to still have my stuff thrown down the street its just something that Im still trying to process, Gates said. The Texas Rent Relief Program, a COVID-19 emergency rental assistance program administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), will be receiving an additional $47.8 million to help address the backlog of assistance requests. Payment is in process. At the federal level, that job falls to the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Inspector General. I hope everyone gets the assistance that they need. They were very well informed that that money was there and it was coming to them, said Scott, whos now living in a short-term rental in Missouri City with her four kids. 3/11/2021 Funding Update: $918,238,535 available If you or someone you know still needs help with the rent relief process or pending eviction, you can apply for free legal help at https://www.lonestarlegal.org or by calling 1-800-733-8394. And if they did, it should be audited and reviewed by [government investigators] so that we can recoup our funds for the misuse of the dollars.. But she said the program doesnt allow landlords to receive back rent if theyve evicted a tenant the opposite of what the email to Scott said. 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. This program has specific eligibility requirements and not all households may be eligible. In June, Gates said she lost her job after she missed a week of work because of a medical problem. Failure to respond would only delay the application process. Member Editorials (MEMBERS ONLY) It hurts, that really hurts. In February, Texas launched a program to help people who had missed rent payments because of the pandemic. Funds may not still be available by the time a household applies. Reporting: On February 15, 2023 Treasury released ERA1 & ERA2 Quarterly Demographic Data for Q1 2021 through Q3 2022; January 2023. The state has already launched a website for the program, where both landlords and tenants facing a pile of bills will be able to apply starting at 8 a.m. Monday. You can even upload documents for an attorney to review. SOURCE Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Cision Distribution 888-776-0942 But Musselman expressed sympathy for the landlord, noting that they had gone 11 months without rent from Gates. 0000020271 00000 n 0000003018 00000 n Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. 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. The landlord participates in the tenant's application for rent relief, or 3. Exactly how many people have fallen behind on rent over the past year is unclear. 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. All Rights Reserved. Updated: 8 AM Central. In her case, the check arrived in time but went to the wrong place. Closed from 12 to 1pm for lunch. endobj Legislative Updates (MEMBERS ONLY) If a landlord is not paid, the payment will be made directly to the tenant. 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. Past due, current and up to 2 months of expected rent costs, Past due, current and up to 2 months of expected utility and home energy expenses, After the initial 3 months of current/future assistance, renters were able to apply for 3 additional months of assistance if funds were still available, If you suspect fraud, waste or abuse please call, View the Texas Rent Relief Program Dashboard (Dashboard in English), https://www.tdhca.state.tx.us/covid19-response.htm. 0000001467 00000 n 0000024288 00000 n He took the car, which made it difficult for Scott to hunt for work and shelter. Things To Do She said the past few months have been hard. 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. 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). While many have gone back to work, the unemployment rate remains significantly higher than it was before the pandemic. At a Jan. 10 eviction hearing, Gates said she told Williamson County Justice of the Peace KT Musselman she had been approved for rent relief and explained that the check went to the wrong address facts she said the property manager, who represented the landlord in court, backed up. Housing advocates acknowledge the challenges of standing up such a massive program, but Christina Rosales from the group Texas Housers said theres a larger issue at play here: As a state, Texas regularly fails to focus its vast resources on helping people in the midst of a disaster. For households who applied directly for unpaid or future rent or utilities. 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. Wilkinson said many people who tried to apply may need to go back and take extra steps to complete the application. endobj The statewide program doled out more than $1.2 billion to 212,344 households. 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. Both the federal and state government added enforcement provisions when they created the rent relief programs. 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. 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. <> 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. Texans shouldnt have to overcome so many bureaucratic and technological challenges just to get help that Congress already funded, Rosales said. Education / Webinars "To date, Texas Rent Relief has served . As of Wednesday, the program has assisted more than 300,000 households. TDHCA is using the funds to help Texas renters pay rent and utility bills (including past due rent and utilities). Texas Rent Relief Program has $96M remaining to help Texans affected by the pandemic. Call to schedule an appointment with a legal representative. The . You can find the names and phone numbers of these organizations below. P.O. Once the application is submitted, applicants need to remain alert for emails or calls from TDHCAs representatives who could ask for additional information. 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. Texas Rent Relief gave me a second (or duplicate) payment for a tenant's month of rent. Greg Abbott for comment on the report. Apr 20, 2021 Like Dislike Share Save Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs 2.97K subscribers The Texas Rent Relief program can provide utility and rental assistance to. The department . Faced with a pot of federal money larger than the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs' annual budget, the state agency contracted Houston-based management consultancy Horne LLP to run the Texas Rent Relief program, agreeing to pay the company more than $42 million. r.t)gfv9~;Y>)?4{(gbx|/Ipv.8|0a(#0`~GhFc=pxr1{YpG0 Texas Rent Relief Program Click here to search the TDHCA database. TXHAF is administered by TDHCA with funding provided under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Its peoples lives at stake here, because when evictions happen, their lives are torn apart. The landlord submits any information or documentation to receive payment as part of a rent relief program. Of the roughly 200 that have completed applications, only two have been approved for funding. Wilkinson told the House Committee on Urban Affairs that a few hundred more people had had payments sent to them over the past week, and that two additional contractors and hundreds of new analysts were being added to work through the backlog of applications. *L#H0o=M6S:{D A^o l'a7*, Health The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has made some changes to the Texas Rent Relief Program in order to make the application and payout process easier. TDHCA announced that they would be accepting new applications in March of 2023 to distribute the remaining funds. 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. In a phone interview, Musselman declined to say why he ruled in favor of Gates landlord. Updated information and a lease for the new unit will be required in the AFR application. 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. See our Eviction page for information on the CDC's eviction moratorium and other eviction topics. In order to collect this late fee, the landlord must have included notice of it in a written lease. hb``b``yX01 $J|*]gw"sq7X>6>^`hD"0Q{in00 Y? ` q endstream endobj 5 0 obj <> endobj 6 0 obj <>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 792.0 612.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 7 0 obj <> endobj 8 0 obj <> endobj 9 0 obj [/ICCBased 22 0 R] endobj 10 0 obj [/Separation/Red 9 0 R<>] endobj 11 0 obj <> endobj 12 0 obj <>stream That makes removing barriers to helping families catch up on the rent even more vital, Rosales said. Landlords who received rent relief dollars cant evict tenants for any reason related to rent or fees during the time period covered by the funds, according to the program requirements. We're thankful for the opportunity to re-open Texas Rent Relief for two weeks to help more Texas tenants and landlords.
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