Miami-Dade County approved a $10 million rent relief fund for families impacted by the pandemic.
The county commission voted to pass the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which will provide a one-time payment to eligible renters. Families can apply beginning on Tuesday and ending Friday, July 17, according to a press release.
To qualify, a renter’s household income cannot exceed 80 percent of the area median income, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Eighty percent of the AMI for a one-person household is $51,200, or $58,500 for a two-person household. Applicants also have to provide a copy of their executed lease, and certify that the household does not receive any other rental subsidy, including Section 8 housing vouchers, tenant-based rental assistance and HOME subsidies.
Some municipalities have created their own rental assistance programs, but the need far outpaces what is available, experts say.
In May, the Miami Beach City Commission unanimously approved a nearly $550,000 fund using state and federal money from three programs to provide rent relief to residents who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A month earlier, the Miami City Commission approved allocating $6.9 million in Covid-19 related assistance, including $2 million in federal and state money for households earning 60 percent of the area median income.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced the state will tap $250 million in CARES Act funding for rental and mortgage assistance due to Covid-19. Shortly before the state’s moratorium on residential evictions and foreclosures was set to end July 1, he extended the freeze an additional month.