Housing Providers CANT apply for Rent Relief

May 5, 2021by melissad0

It is very simple, the money is there but housing providers cant apply for rent relief without the residents participation. There is over 50 million still available in relief, but residents have to play an active role. You may have heard in last night’s county board of supervisors meeting many claims that there is rent relief for “landlords”.

Even the supervisors themselves claim this money is available and we just need to apply. Our team has spent thousands of hours trying to decipher the different city and county programs available. The application process and how we can help our residents apply. You may be surprised to learn, we cannot just simply apply for the money. Despite what county supervisors and residents may think.

San Diego County and The City of San Diego

Each have rolled out their version of an Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Hopefully to help tenants pay for past due and future rents due to COVID-19 hardships. Tenants who qualify and have past due rent will be approved up to 80% from April 2020 – March 2021. The owner must agree to forgive 20% of the remaining past due rent to participate in the program. Most owners are willing to participate in this program. Although, it should be noted, no other small business is being asked to discount services.

There is an additional program that can help tenants who need assistance with future rent.  They can receive up to 25% of their monthly rent for the months of April, May, and June 2021.

The County and City have expressed on several occasions that rental housing providers can help residents apply for the program.

The catch

The application asks questions that go against Fair Housing Laws. It asks for detailed questions about income. Not to mention very personal information that as an Accredited Management Organization we do not ask the tenant. Nor, should we be filling out an application answering such questions on their behalf.

The several outreach programs to help tenants apply are listed on the County website. As of May 2021, both County and City are working on prioritizing applications for applicants who make under 50% of the average median income.

The application submitted by the resident has a representative assigned to approve or deny. They will then reach out to the housing provider to submit more documents. Verifying all information that the resident put down is accurate. After, the landlord or Property Manager verifies the information the Finance Department makes a final decision.

If approved

Funds take 7-10 business days to arrive and be posted to the tenant’s ledger. This is only for the months that the funds are approved for. FBS Property Management has been committed to helping residents stay up to date on all programs. We continue to work with the County and City to ensure our tenants have the documents they need to be eligible for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. As you can see, the claims that owners and property managers can apply for the relief themselves is simply false.

If you have any questions please reach out to us!

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