As part of your ERAP application, you are required to provide contact information for your landlord and submit a "recommendation request" to your landlord. WebSample Letter: This sample letter would be used in instances when a community member is unwilling to provide written documentation. If youre a landlord, eligibility is based on your tenants household needs, and youll be asked to show that your tenants household is eligible for assistance. "a Research shows that children facing housing instability, homelessness, and poverty are more likely to be involved in the child welfare system. The state of the nations housing 2020. https://www.hud.gov/topics/rental_assistance. To be eligible for help covering your rent, you must have an agreement to pay rent for your home or mobile home lot. If your household is eligible for emergency rental assistance, local programs may cover the cost of a hotel or motel room if: If emergency rental assistance is not available to help cover these costs, you can also ask for help under the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant program. It is clear that the coronavirus pandemic is affecting renters of color differently, exacerbating past inequality, and leading the path to a future of worsening inequality. The National Innovation Services Framework for an Equitable COVID-19 Homelessness Response, for example, took a participatory action approach to engaging communities with lived experiences with housing insecurity and homelessness in developing guidelines for decision-makers to build equity-focused COVID-19 homelessness relief approaches.84 Meaningful community partnerships must be prioritized, resourced, and sustained to ensure more equitable responses. Questions - If you have questions about the program, you can: All email messages will be returned within one business day. You can also get help with rent for the lot that your home sits on, even if you own your manufactured home. However, housing is rarely constructed with multigenerational families in mind, and the supply does not meet the growing demand.13 Latinx, Native American, and Asian individuals, who increasingly live in multigenerational households,14 disproportionately live in overcrowded rental units that are not large enough or are not constructed for larger households.15 A benefit of living in a multigenerational household is that it increases household resources,16 which can serve as a safety net and lift families out of poverty.17 However, without adequate and affordable rental units designed and constructed to fit a range of families needs, the cultural, social, and economic benefits of living in multigenerational households are less available. As recent analyses show, renters of color are experiencing disproportionate negative outcomes from COVID-19. People of color, who have faced higher rates of lost employment during the pandemic,10 continue to be disproportionately cost-burdened and at increased risk of eviction.11. endstream endobj startxref Johan Hassel, Kate Donald, Laura Kilbury, 1 More Published by Articulate Storyline www.articulate.com Allow applicants to progress and self-attest if they cannot provide documentation. Each of the following examples demonstrates elements of those guidelines. However, more recent versions of the bill have cut these proposals by nearly half.44 In July, the Senate introduced the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protections, and Schools (HEALS) Act,45 another relief package, which proposes only $3.3 billion for certain housing vouchers and does not propose funding for homelessness aid. hbbd```b``+dd="J^09DB`Rd DI%`@?H1d`$$2@ uY Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32(4), 357367. Email If you have a disability, dont have access to technology, or have other special needs, a local program may be flexible about the proof they require. They restrict access to resources, increase criminal-legal involvement for many, perpetuate poverty,72 have not been found to be effective in decreasing homelessness, and cost taxpayers more than if housing were provided to people experiencing homelessness.73, Anti-homeless legislation disproportionately affects Black, Native American, and Latinx individuals, who are often already more justice-involved.74 People who are not currently experiencing homelessness may also be targeted by these laws, which advocates argue do more harm than service and should be litigated.75, During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts and local law enforcement have differed in their approach to anti-homeless laws. OHS is looking for students who share an interestin: Interns with OHS will have the opportunity to learn from staff who are knowledgeable about housing resources for tenants and landlords. Some programs offer help with future rent. Mortality among homeless adults in Boston: Shifts in causes of death over a 15-year period. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This example shows one way grantees can cross-reference household size and income against a proxy data source on the backend, without putting this onus on the applicant. (2016). As frameworks such as those in the BREATHE Act specify, those communities most affected by both past harms and the current pandemic must be included at all levels of policy and decision-making. (June 29, 2020), available at, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Register Notice: Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions to Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19, available at, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (Form) Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury for the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Temporary Halt in Evictions To Prevent Further Spread of COVID-19 (Atlanta: 2020), available at, Peter Hepburn and Renee Louis, Preliminary Analysis: Shifts in Eviction Filings from the CARES Act to the CDC Order, The Eviction Lab, September 22, 2020, available at, Chris Arnold, Despite A New Federal Ban, Many Renters Are Still Getting Evicted, NPR, September 14, 2020, available at, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS/CDC Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions To Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19, available at, National Low Income Housing Coalition, State and Local Rental Assistance, available at, Ann OConnell, Emergency Bans on Evictions and Other Tenant Protections Related to Coronavirus, Nolo, available at, Ally Schweitzer, Legal Evictions Are Banned In D.C. Amid Pandemic, But Invisible Ones Are On The Rise, NPR, October 16, 2020, available at, Anna Lamb, Tenants Union organizes protest against soft evictions citing local landlords, The Ithaca Voice, October 6, 2020, available at, Clark Merrefield, Eviction: The physical, financial and mental health consequences of losing your home, Journalists Resource, August 3, 2020, available at, Lexington Law, How Long Does an Eviction Stay on Your Record, January 15, 2020, available at, Lori Sonken, Eviction is a cause, not just a condition of poverty,, Robert Collinson and Davin Reed, The Effects of Evictions on Low-Income Households (2018), available at, Joy Moses, State of Homelessness: A Look at Race and Ethnicity, National Alliance to End Homelessness, May 27, 2020, available at, National Homelessness Law Center, No Safe Place: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities (Washington: 2019), available at, Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, Effects of Homelessness on Families and Children (New York: 2015), available at, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Homelessness as a Public Health Law Issue: Selected Resources, available at, National Homelessness Law Center, Protect Tenants, Prevent Homelessness (Washington: 2018), available at, National Homelessness Law Center, No Safe Place; Caitlin A. Carey, Anti-Homeless Ordinances in American Cities (Minneapolis: Urban Affairs Association 47th Conference, 2017), available at, Chris Herring, Dilara Yarbrough, and Lisa Marie Alatorre, Pervasive Penalty: How the Criminalization of Poverty Perpetuates Homelessness,, Meghan Henry and others, The 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress (Washington: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2017), available at, National Homelessness Law Center, No Safe Place: Advocacy Manual (Washington: 2019), available at, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Interim Guidance on People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness, available at, Christian Zapata, D.C. Frederick, T.J., Chwalek, M., Hughes, J., Karabanow, J., & Kidd, S. (2014). Where can I find out if my household qualifies for rental help? The question Did you pay your last months rent or mortgage on time? (Question 30) was asked in Phase 1 of the HPS, which includes weeks 1 through 12 (April 23 to July 21, 2020). Homelessness and housing insecurity among former prisoners. Beyond these packages, other legislation focused specifically on housing has been introduced, including the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act,46 the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act,47 and the Protecting Renters from Evictions and Fees Act.48, In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enacted a national halt on residential evictions for nonpayment of rent,49 which required renters to sign a declaration form stating that they meet certain eligibility criteria.50 This action came with the following CDC acknowledgement: Housing stability helps protect public health because homelessness increases the likelihood that people may move into close quarters in homeless shelters or other settings. Keep copies of important documents like your lease agreement, rent receipts, security deposit receipts, and any written communications with your landlord. (2015). Utilities and home energy costs include electricity, gas, water and sewer, trash removal, and fuel oil. Additionally, people with criminal records continue to face barriers in obtaining rental housing. Local programs are allowed to cover moving expenses, security deposits, rental application or screening fees, and motel or hotel bills for families who have to move out of their homes. Platforms such as these recognize that an equitable recovery must be race-conscious and reconcile past harms while also providing solutions for current challenges. This term is preferable to Latino, which is not gender-inclusive. You dont necessarily need to have a signed lease, and your home could be an apartment, house, mobile home, or other place. These are the first in a series of examples demonstrating best practices for service delivery and can be an inspiration for how grantees may iterate and evolve their applications and programs to better serve tenants and landlords. I own my home. Treasury is providing example reference screens to help grantees with implementing ERA program online applications. These example pages can be used by program administrators and staff or vendors in building or modifying ERA applications. 230 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<1EE02C84DA744D4784F61DE02328B05A>]/Index[208 39]/Info 207 0 R/Length 108/Prev 359524/Root 209 0 R/Size 247/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa1103216, Aratani, Y., Chau, M. M., Wight, V., & Addy, S. D. (2011). These crowded places put people at higher risk of getting COVID-19. The CDC halt was announced in early September, more than a month after the expiration of the CARES Act moratorium and a week after the end of the first set of 30-day notices of intent to evict. It doesnt matter how long you have been living in your current rental home. You can get emergency rental help even if you have a rent-to-own agreement with your landlord, as long as: Rental assistance can also be used to cover mooring fees. Webhousing as a core social determinant of personal health and well-being; and substantial evidence that housing stability is essential for people to address their challenges and doi: 10.7916/D8Z89MMD, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For more detailed information on how to legally respond to an eviction notice, and the possible court proceedings, visit our eviction process overview page. Where applicable, these examples have been listed in the order of preference. In other cases, your local program might give you the money right away, without first contacting your landlord. Mortgage foreclosure and health disparities: Serial displacement as asset extraction in African American populations. The federal ERA Program allows local programs to cover rent, utilities, and home energy costs. We help tenants in housing crisis due to fire, natural disaster, eviction, or condemnation. Remarks by Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Rosenberg for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Association of Women in International Trade. Or they can ask you to show your income with other documents (for example, unemployment benefits documents, pay stubs, tax documents, a statement from an employer, etc.). 208 0 obj <> endobj WebTexas Department of Housing and Community Affairs ESG Program: Examples of Acceptable Documentation for AtRisk of Homelessness Status (Rev. Can I get help to cover my mortgage, utility, or energy costs? Four in 5 landlords use criminal background screening when evaluating tenant applications,101 and people with criminal records are often ineligible for public and supportive housing programs.102 These barriers disproportionately affect people of color and contribute to the cycle of housing insecurity and incarceration.103 Repealing these restrictions and practices while jointly adopting automated record-clearing programs, such as the Clean Slate Initiative,104 would help provide access to affordable housing and keep people lodged. To estimate percentages, total respondents were adjusted for missing responses and only those who responded that they pay rent were included. They may also be able to help you get legal, financial, or other help. doi: 10.7758/RSF.2015.1.2.04, Geller, A., & Curtis, M. A. This example attempts to capture a range of factors that can lead to risk of housing instability or homelessness. How do I apply for emergency rental assistance? Protecting programs that include a race-conscious approach means vetoing harmful actions such as the recent Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping,85 which will punish government contractors and nonprofits who provide trainings on race and sex diversity, equity, and inclusion by withholding federal grants for these lifesaving programs.86 It also means protecting the FHA87 and reviving the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provisions that combat housing discrimination and promote community participation.88. Use this Area Median Income Lookup Tool from Fannie Mae to find the AMI in your area. You dont have to be behind on rent to get assistance. Call 617-635-4200 or email [email protected]. Starting May 7, 2021, landlords who accept direct payments of future rent are not allowed to evict you for not paying rent during the period covered by the rental assistance. doi: 10.2307/2094818, Lepore, S. J., Evans, G. W., & Palsane, M. N. (1991). The Office of Housing Stability's Housing Crisis Case Coordinators can help you deal with the eviction process. What can I use to show housing instability? How stable is stable? WebHow can I provide proof that I am at risk of housing instability to qualify for assistance? This includes help paying for future utility or energy bills, even if you owe money for existing or overdue bills. Sign up for the Mayor's Office of Housing's monthly newsletter. A study examining data from New York City recently found that evictions increase the likelihood of a person being hospitalized up to two years later and increase the probability of hospitalization to address a mental health condition.63, People who have been evicted are also more likely to apply to stay in shelters, as well as spend more days living in shelters.64 Pacific Islander, Native American, Black, Latinx, and Asian communities already face higher rates of homelessness,65 and once pushed into homelessness, families encounter a pileup of inequities.66 When stable housing is not available, people often confront criminalization due in large measure to anti-homeless legislation.67 They also suffer from food insecurity,68 declines in physical and mental health,69 and further barriers to obtaining future housing.70, Anti-homeless legislation and ordinances are present in 9 out of 10 cities, and their passing and enforcement have been on the rise.71 These laws criminalize specific public behaviors and make it possible to punish people experiencing homelessness who are simply looking to meet their basic needs and may have no other alternatives. Eligibility is based on a renter households financial situation and housing needs. By May 2020, the CDC released guidance halting the clearing of outdoor encampments, though this guidance has not been implemented across many states and localities.76 Dozens of citiesincluding Washington, D.C.;77 Sacramento, California;78 and Denver, Colorado79have been reported to continue encampment clearing against this CDC guidance. Can I get help with the cost of moving to a new home? Programs have to make sure they are complying with their own eligibility policies and procedures. Any additional program policy decisions could be captured in this checklist, or other parts of the interface, as needed. If your landlord is responsible for paying utilities and home energy costs, these will be treated as rent. Ask for "income recertification" through your Public Housing Agency (PHA) or landlord. `Fr4S;D1 We also have information on emergency resources for tenants. Browse all evidence-based resources. This additional evidence will facilitate public health efforts to address housing instability as a social determinant of health. Talk to your local program to find out how they can help. , an advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans. This example would document unsheltered The effects of exposure to better neighborhoods on children: New evidence from the Moving to Opportunity experiment. Check with your local program to find out if theyre using this flexibility. dataLayer.push({"event": "signup_submit", "form_detail":"enSubscribeFooter"}); Remarks by Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang During Workshop on Next Steps to the Future of Money and Payments, Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen at Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, RT @TreasuryDepSec: For the past two years, the Biden-Harris Administration has committed itself to strengthening its relationship with Tri, RT @UnderSecTFI: Today the US Treasury sanctioned companies involved in timeshare fraud by the CJNG, which is used to generate revenue for, Form 941, employer's quarterly federal tax return, Assistance for State, Local, and Tribal Governments, find out what emergency rental assistance covers, how it works, and whos eligible, Guidelines for ERA program online applications, Risk of housing instability or homelessness, Break the process into steps and indicate where the user is in the process using a step indicator, Use examples and lists instead of requiring blocks of text, Winter 2021-2022 home heating costs are predicted to increase, Provide human interaction and support to applicants, eligibility language alteration between ERA1 and ERA2. if(subscribe.checkValidity()) { doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.1604, Cutts, D. B., Coleman, S., Black, M. M., Chilton, M. M., Cook, J. T., de Cuba, S. E., & Frank, D. A. 37.1 million households, including renters and owners, were cost burdened of these, 17.6 million households were severely cost burdened. Kushel, M. B., Gupta, R., Gee, L., & Haas, J. S. (2006). The question How confident are you that your household will be able to pay your next rent or mortgage payment on time? (Question 41) was asked in phases 1 and 2 of the HPS, which include weeks 1 through 16 (April 23 to October 12, 2020). National Low Income Housing Coalition. Local programs may be able to help with future rent. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(8), 964979. US housing insecurity and the health of very young children, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Use Healthy People 2030 Evidence-Based Resources in Your Work, Social Determinants of Health Literature Summaries, Reduce the proportion of people living in poverty SDOH01, Increase employment in working-age people SDOH02, Reduce the proportion of families that spend more than 30 percent of income on housing SDOH04, Social Determinants of Health: Permanent Supportive Housing with Housing First (Housing First Programs), Social Determinants of Health: Tenant-Based Housing Voucher Programs, New Perspectives on Creating Jobs: Final Impacts of the Next Generation of Subsidized Employment Programs, Strengthening TANF Outcomes By Developing Two-Generation Approaches To Build Economic Security, http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/sonhr14-color-full_0.pdf, https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_The_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2020_Report_Revised_120720.pdf, http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Renters_in_Foreclosure_2012.pdf, https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/558, https://www.hud.gov/programdescription/mto, https://www.hud.gov/topics/rental_assistance, OASH - Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The CARES Act required landlords to provide at least a 30-day notice to tenants before filing an evictiona protection that is not set to expire.89 This protection, and other prefiling notice requirements,90 provide tenantswho previously only had a few days notice before court involvement91more time to take the action needed to prevent their eviction or, if an eviction does occur, search for emergency housing. WebProof of Housing Instability Acceptable Documents may include: Disconnected Utility Notice Self-Declaration of Homelessness Self-Declaration of Housing Instability Identification of Housing subsidies administered by the federal government provide financial assistance to help low-income people pay rent.6,33,34However, households may be on waitlists for several years before receiving assistance.6,18,33Due to limited funds and the large number of households in need, only 26 percent of eligible households received federal housing subsidies in 2013.8Further work is needed to explore potential strategies to reduce housing instability. doi: 10.2307/3211288. If you need help paying your past and future rent, apply for rental assistance today. } Asking for the total amount that the tenant owes for the utility allows all fees needed to maintain that utility to be included. Sign Up These laws include bans on camping or sleeping in public spaces or in vehicles; loitering; panhandling, both giving and receiving; public food-sharing, both providing and accepting; and more. Authors note:CAP uses Black and African American interchangeably throughout many of our products. Demonstrate that it is likely you will be unable to pay future rent and/or utilities when they are due. WebMy household is experiencing housing instability due to (please select all options that apply to your households circumstances): Receipt of a rental eviction notice. This includes electricity, gas, fuel oil, water and sewer, and trash removal. In 2018, 8,200 fair housing complaints were filed for discrimination based on race or national origin6likely a vast undercount of actual occurrences. Community-led and developed solutions must also be provided the funding necessary to build capacity to foster community partnerships and carry out the solutions developed. American Journal of Public Health, 97(3), 464469. When programs make direct payments to landlords to cover back rent, guidance strongly encourages them to prohibit eviction for 30 to 90 days after the period covered by rental assistance. Journal of Family Issues, 37(7), 921946. (March 27, 2020), available at, The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act of 2020, H.R. Housing instability encompasses a number of challenges, such as having trouble paying rent, overcrowding, moving frequently, or spending the bulk of household income on housing.1,2These experiences may negatively affect physical health and make it harder to access health care.1,3,4This summary will discuss the cost of housing as well as the health effects of substandard housing and forced evictions. Utility bill for each utility company if applying for utility assistance The change in rent could apply to unpaid rent. Get lawyer referral services and information at Housing Court. It also provides more granular data for program administrators. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300139, Meltzer, R., & Schwartz, A. This form may be completed by one or more individuals within the household in order to demonstrate the household is at risk of endstream endobj 209 0 obj <. Emily A. Benfer, Solomon J. Greene, and Margaret Hagan, Approaches to Eviction Prevention (Social Science Research Network, 2020): available at, Tenant Resource Center, Eviction, available at, Brian Bieretz, Kimberly Burrowes, and Emily Bramhall, Getting Landlords and Tenants to Talk (Washington: Urban Institute, 2020), available at, National League of Cities, Long-Term Approaches to Preventing Evictions Now and Beyond COVID-19, August 7, 2020), available at, Heidi Schultheis and Catilin Rooney, A Right to Counsel Is a Right to a Fighting Chance: The Importance of Legal Representation in Eviction Proceedings (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2019), available at, Oksana Mironova, Right to Counsel and Stronger Rent Laws Helped Reduce Evictions on 2019, Community Service Society, February 24, 2020, available at, Lexington Law, How Long Does an Eviction Stay on Your Record., Office of Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act of 2019, Press release, June 18, 2019, available at, Fairness in Renting Emergency Amendment Act of 2020, B23-0940, Council of the District of Columbia (October 5, 2020), available at, Gapard Le Dem, D.C.
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