Miami to offer financial help for struggling homeowners, renters in COVID-19 economy
Miami commissioners on Thursday approved $1.6 million in aid for city residents struggling to pay their mortgage or rent in an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bulk of the money, $1.3 million, will go toward a mortgage assistance program to help low- and moderate-income homeowners who have either lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts. Of that total, $131,000 will fund the administration of the program and $1.1 million will be distributed to people in grants of up to $6,000. The mortgage assistance money is flowing from the federal CARES Act through the state-run Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
Commissioners also approved $300,000 in rent relief for tenants. Low-income renters who’ve lost work in the pandemic and face eviction could qualify for up to $3,500 in aid.
The eviction prevention program redirects property tax dollars from a 2016 initiative to help residents of Miami’s West Grove, a historically Black neighborhood where longtime residents have been displaced by gentrification. The dollars went unspent due to a restriction that only allowed West Grove renters to receive grants if they were moving somewhere within Miami city limits — a tough proposition in an increasingly unaffordable housing market for many of Miami’s moderate and low-wage workers.
Commissioner Ken Russell, whose district includes the Grove, proposed the program that went untapped for years.
“I asked if we can use those dollars now for the crisis we’re in,” Russell said.
He sponsored both of the COVID financial relief items, which passed unanimously during Thursday’s city commission meeting. The programs are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, and application periods will be announced later.
The demand for both pots of money is expected to be high. In May, the city used more than $3 million in federal housing funds to distribute loans and grants to business owners and renters. The business aid packages were claimed within hours after a rush of applications flooded the system. Within a week, the rental assistance dollars were accounted for.
Russell said state and federal authorities need to send more funding for similar programs as the economic fallout of the pandemic drags on and eviction moratoriums are eventually lifted.
“We need that help from the state and federal government to make sure we can make our community whole,” Russell said. “And it’s not just those businesses they may close. It’s the people they have to fire. And those people who lose their jobs could lose their homes.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 9:23 PM.
