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BOSTON - Tuesday, March
30, 2021 - Today Mayor Kim Janey announced that the City of Boston is
making a record $50 million in federal funding available to help Boston
renters stay stably housed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rental Relief Fund was one of the first funds in the nation
created to offer financial support to residents at risk of losing their
housing due to impacts from COVID-19. The new funding will enable the
City of Boston to help residents pay their rent and assist in preventing
evictions leading up to the federal eviction moratorium that expires on
June 30. The new funding will expand the scope of the current program
beyond solely paying for rent, allowing the City to assist eligible
renters with utility bills, and moving costs, including the first and
last month’s rent and security deposit. Approximately $3 million from
this funding is being allocated to assist Boston Housing Authority (BHA)
public housing tenants, with rental arrears.
“We know that many
Bostonians continue to struggle to make ends meet, and need assistance
with housing costs, which we have been proud to make available,” said
Mayor Kim Janey. “This new infusion of funding will go above and beyond
what the City has made available in the past to support renters to now
include funding for utilities, moving costs within the city, and partial
payments of rent. I am proud of the work we are doing with our partners,
as we know it is important that we leverage every resource available to
ensure the health and safety of all our residents and to keep them stably
housed, and ensure an equitable recovery from the pandemic.”
Since it was
established in April of 2020, the Rental Relief Fund has awarded more
than $7.8 million to more than 1,860 households across the City of
Boston. Funds have been distributed to support residents in every Boston
neighborhood. More than 70% of individuals who have applied for financial
assistance are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) households
and more than 30% of applicants reported that they work or formerly
worked in the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry in Boston has
been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with roughly half of the more than 34,000
Boston residents working in the hospitality sector claiming unemployment
at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, 46% of applicants reported that their
employers shut down or reduced operations and 10% experienced income loss
due to childcare and school closures.
“We look forward to
continuing to provide Rental Relief Funding to families who are at risk
of eviction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This new funding from the City
of Boston will ensure that residents continue to feel safe and have a
roof over their heads," said Philip Giffee, Executive Director of
Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH). "I am proud of the work
NOAH’s great team has done assisting families in our community with
eviction prevention resources and funding. Our partnership with the City
of Boston during this pandemic has helped provide housing stability to
hundreds of families in Boston. The City is both compassionate and
equitable and we want to thank Mayor Janey and the Department of
Neighborhood Development (DND) and the Office of Housing Security (OHS)
for making safe and stable housing a priority in our City."
The new Rental
Relief Funds may be used for rental assistance for up to 12 months and
can cover past, current, and prospective rent. Additionally, these funds
may be used to pay for utilities, including internet service, moving
costs within the City of Boston, or to supplement partial payments of
rent. The City of Boston works with partner nonprofit agencies to assist
tenants throughout this process, including determining eligibility,
calculating the amount of assistance, and distributing payments directly
to the landlord or utility provider.
For each
household, including recipients from previous application rounds, total
financial assistance may not exceed more than $15,000 in a 12-month
period. Anyone who has previously applied or received rental
assistance in the past is encouraged to re-apply for this new funding since they may be eligible for the
expanded amount of funding.
To qualify for
assistance, tenants must:
·
Earn
less than 80% Area Median Income (AMI) or $96,250 for a family of
four,
·
Be
financially impacted by COVID-19,
·
Be
a renter in Boston,
·
Certify
they do not receive a rental subsidy or have funds to meet their needs,
and
·
Not
be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student.
"The new
commitment of resources by the City is a strong statement that eviction
must be avoided as a part of our response to the public health crisis,”
said Steve Meacham, Organizing Coordinator for City Life. “It's
especially important that these funds are available to families without
documents. We look forward to working with DND on the non-payment
cases this fund addresses and also on the growing numbers of no-fault
cases that threaten our communities, especially communities of
color."
A person's
immigration status is not asked during the Rental Relief Fund application
process, and receiving funds does not impact other financial assistance
that a person may be already receiving. Additionally, assistance from the
Rental Relief Fund does not affect immigration applications as a
"public charge" ground of inadmissibility. Qualified residents
interested in applying to this round of funding can submit their
application here, available in 11 languages.
"This
pandemic has been devastating for many Bostonians but has been
particularly cruel to minority residents," said Karen Chen, Executive
Director of the Chinese Progressive Association. "These new funds
will help keep hundreds of residents in their homes and safe as we
continue to battle both the Coronavirus and the economic challenges
associated with the pandemic. We thank Mayor Janey for supporting and
protecting the vulnerable residents of our community."
To ensure that the
Fund is disbursed promptly, the City of Boston has continued its
partnership with nonprofit partners Metro Housing | Boston, NOAH, and
Project Hope to process applications received and disburse payments
directly to landlords.
To further support
tenants, the BHA recently announced that it has extended its moratorium
for nonessential evictions for public housing residents through June 30,
2021, consistent with the federal Center for Disease Control extension.
Residents of BHA properties who are interested in the Rental Relief Fund
should not apply for the Rental Relief Fund via the online application,
and are advised to check with their building supervisor or a property
manager for more information on resources available to them, or email rental.relief@bostonhousing.org, including their name, contact
information, and the building they reside in.
Throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Housing Stability (OHS) has provided programs and services
to assist both renters and landlords so they remain safely and stably
housed. The OHS established the Rental Relief Fund to provide funding to landlords to pay
overdue and future rent to keep Boston residents safely housed. It has
established a robust court intervention program as well as landlord
mediation and virtual and walk-in legal clinics to serve tenants and
landlords in the City of Boston. It has continued to work with all
tenants to provide wraparound housing services and supports.
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