Need help paying rent and live in Miami? City opening applications to rent-relief program
City of Miami renters who’ve been struggling to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic can apply for up to a year of rent relief money from the city starting in two weeks.
On March 29, as part of the new Miami Emergency Rental Assistance Program, applications will open at 9 a.m. on the program’s website, which will be available in English, Spanish and Creole. Applications can also be printed or paper copies can be picked up from some city locations, which have not yet been announced.
The program will accept applications through April 30 and process on a first-come, first-served basis.
If a resident qualifies, the program can provide up to 12 months of several types of assistance, which includes power, water, internet and gas assistance. It can also give qualifiers three months of prospective rent capped at a max of $2,000 a month per household. Rental assistance can’t exceed $24,000 for households.
On a case-by-case basis, eligible renters could qualify for other housing-related expenses, which include relocation expenses, rental fees of a temporary or permanently displaced home and reasonably accrued late fees.
Renters must meet a set of criteria to be eligible for the program. These are:
▪ Be a City of Miami resident. This can be checked on the city’s address locator: https://www.miamidade.gov/pa/property_search.asp.
▪ Have a 2020 household total income that does not exceed 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). For example, for a household of four, that would be $73,100 household income maximum. Priority will be given to households below 50%.
▪ The applicant or an adult of the household must have qualified for unemployment, had a reduction in household income or experienced a financial hardship.
▪ The applicant or an adult of the household must be experiencing housing instability.
Landlords can apply on behalf of eligible tenants, assuming the tenant qualifies and can provide necessary documents to the city.
In January, the City of Miami had been awarded $14 million by the U.S. Department of Treasury to help people pay rent and utilities under a federal COVID-19 relief program. In February, the city commission voted to dedicate about 90% of the $14 million to rental assistance. The rest would pay for administration of the program and give funds to local nonprofits.
Miami-Dade County had a similar rent-relief program open for county residents, except those in the cities of Miami and Hialeah, where the county would pay up to $3,000 per month of back rent. That program closed for applicants in early March.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 5:51 PM.
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