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Important: Washington State is allocating $100M in rental assistance for tenants who are behind on rent. I’m reading the documents now and will post info about the program below. (1/x)
This is a program run by the WA State Dept of Commerce. Press release here: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/news-releases/community-grants/100-million-rental-assistance-headed-to-washington-communities/
(2/x)
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Tenants are eligible for up to three months of rent (back due, current, or future through December 2020). There seems to be a formula that caps the assistance at 80% total rent due or the “fair market value” though. (Photo from pgm guide: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdeptofcommerce.box.com%2Fs%2Fkb5sds2gv4yc9n931j1e7f1dikvlyub1/view/696873212517) (3/x)
Who’s eligible? Households whose income over the last 60 days is less than 50% the area median, who are behind (fully or partly) on rent payment(s) from March 1, 2020 on, and meet one or more secondary characteristic from the list in the screenshot (also from pgm guide). (4/x)
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are special factors for ppl under 24 y/o that can help make you eligible, such as being pregnant/a parent or being a currently/prev. involved with the foster care/adoption system, mental health treatment, drug/alcohol treatment, or the court system. (5/x)
IMPORTANT NOTE: U.S. citizenship is NOT an eligibility requirement. You can still get help if you’re a WA resident but don’t have citizenship. (6/x)
Who will administer the program (a.k.a. who to contact if you need assistance)? The state has designated service providers for each county — non-profits and gov’t agencies doing homelessness prevention.
- Contacts for 18-24 y/os: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdeptofcommerce.box.com%2Fs%2Fqma2tre4mijieyr9r1461kbssc7x9ykq (7/x)
- Contacts for 18-24 y/os: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdeptofcommerce.box.com%2Fs%2Fqma2tre4mijieyr9r1461kbssc7x9ykq (7/x)
- Contacts for applicants over 24 y/o: https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fdeptofcommerce.box.com%2Fs%2Fdrvlxz7mqtqpibuyrs27z94htlsx6vwe (8/x)
There’s a racial equity component to how the $ will be distributed per Commerce. From the pgm guide (see screenshot): “The [%] of head of households provided [RA] must at least [=] the proportion to the pop. living in poverty in the county” of various communities of color. (9/x)
![There’s a racial equity component to how the $ will be distributed per Commerce. From the pgm guide (see screenshot): “The [%] of head of households provided [RA] must at least [=] the proportion to the pop. living in poverty in the county” of various communities of color. (9/x)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eemap6zUMAA_z9b.jpg "There’s a racial equity component to how the $ will be distributed per Commerce. From the pgm guide (see screenshot): “The [%] of head of households provided [RA] must at least [=] the proportion to the pop. living in poverty in the county” of various communities of color. (9/x)")
Commerce press release openly states “The available funds will not meet the demand for assistance.“ (10/x)
And, for accuracy, looks like Commerce will start with issuing 50% of the funds, then assess program per performance measures (screenshot from pgm guide). (11/x)
That’s all I know about this program for now. Please feel free to comment below with further resources or info if you have it. (12/12)
