Miami-Dade approves $10M emergency rent relief program

Eligible household income limited to 80% of the area median income

Mayor Carlos Gimenez (Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Mayor Carlos Gimenez (Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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.

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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.