Copyright 2023 (c) The Connecticut Mirror. Ginny Monk is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror ( ). The state’s Department of Housing combined that money with $1.5 million the state legislature set aside for a rent bank program last session. Department of the Treasury has been re-allocating rental assistance funds from states such as Arkansas and Alabama that were slower to spend money or states such as Montana and South Dakota with fewer tenants.Ĭonnecticut received an addition $11 million from those re-allocated funds. People facing eviction who meet the eligibility requirements and don’t have legal representation will have access to mediators at Quinnipiac University’s Center on Dispute Resolution, according to the statement.Īfter Connecticut spent its initial $400 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act, the state applied for more money. If the eviction case were withdrawn or the court orders that a marshal deliver an execution or remove a tenant from the apartment, that renter would no longer be eligible for the program, according to the overview document. Renters who already received up to $15,000 or 12 months of rent from UniteCT, the state’s emergency rental assistance program, are only eligible for up to $3,500 in additional assistance. In order to receive the money, they’ll have to enter an agreement with the landlord to either stay in the unit until back rent is paid or find a plan to move to a new place, according to a program overview document. Tenants are eligible if they earn up to 80% of the area median income. With this additional funding, we will be able to place an even greater emphasis on assisting those households that are either currently going through an eviction or facing an eviction.The program is for tenants who already have evictions filed against them and can cover rent owed back to April 1, 2020, DOH spokesman Aaron Turner said in an email. Eligible applicants are tenants who make 80 or less of the HUD median income requirements. “Since March of 2021, through UniteCT, Connecticut has distributed over nearly 80% of its original tranches of money from the federal government. It offers up to 15,000 for unpaid rent and 1,500 for electricity bills. “As we all know, the pandemic was tough on everyone, but especially tough for our renters and homeowners,” said Seila Mosquera-Bruno, the Connecticut Department of Housing commissioner, in the press release. The state plans to leverage the additional funds with a $1.5 million in its rent bank, which the state legislature approved during the last session. About 10,700 of those were because the landlord hadn’t completed the application, and another 9,500 because the tenant hadn’t completed the application. Landlords have said they’re frustrated by a slow payment process.Īfter the program stopped taking applications, the state pulled about 20,000 incomplete applications from consideration. Renters across the country and in Connecticut have reported difficulty getting aid because of landlords who were unwilling to participate in the program. Typically, payments go directly to landlords on behalf of the tenants. On average, households receive about $8,300 in rent assistance and nearly $1,500 in utility assistance, according to a press release from Lamont’s office. Another $88 million are payments in progress. So far, UniteCT has distributed about $322.6 million to about 50,000 households, according to a state Department of Housing dashboard. “I applaud Connecticut’s Congressional delegation and the Biden-Harris administration for their ongoing commitment to provide the resources required to keep our families safely housed.” “Thanks to UniteCT and the emergency funding we received from the federal government, thousands of renters financially impacted by the pandemic have been able to remain in their homes and landlords have continued receiving payments on their behalf,” Lamont said in a Tuesday press release. The hotline aims to connect residents with a variety of services, including housing, food and mental health care. In recent weeks, the state’s 211 hotline has been receiving about 1,000 housing-and-shelter-related calls per day. ![]() ![]() The program stopped taking applications in February, after which evictions spiked to some of their highest numbers in a month since at least 2017. UniteCT provides up to 12 months of rent and electric assistance to households that earn up to 80% of the area median income and were financially impacted by the pandemic.
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