The county has reopened applications for COVID-19 rent from county renters who didn’t complete a previously submitted application, or want to submit a new application for review, officials announced.
The program, originally begun in May 2020, is intended to provide help to those hit with financial hardship due to the pandemic. So far, $79.1 million in assistance has been distributed.
We have additional funds to distribute, and we know that the need for this assistance has not gone away,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a press release. “The impact of this pandemic will be with us for quite some time, so I urge eligible residents who are in need to not delay and apply today.”
Applications are being process on factors such as income, risk of eviction, and geographic location.
Those who previously registered an online account to apply can log in to continue an application that was already started.
Anyone who does not have the required email address for an account to apply with a new application can connect with the property manager/landlord who can apply on their behalf, officials said.
Anyone without internet access, or who needs assistance completing the application, should call 311 (240-777-0311) to get help completing an application.
Funding for this phase of the program was provided by U.S. Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance funds in direct allocations to the county and as a sub-grantee to the State of Maryland.
County Council originally introduced a bill in April 2020 to prohibit residential rent increases during the COVID-19 emergency, which was approved. This past week, the council declined to consider continuing that prohibition.
Image from Wikimedia Commons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.