Whatcom County eligible for almost $2.7 million in owed, current, or future rent aid
CORRECTION:
An earlier version of this story included information about a separate program with funding that is not yet available. The story was updated Aug. 5, 2020.
Whatcom County is receiving almost $2.7 million of the $100 million in federal CARES act funding earmarked for rent assistance to counties being released by the state Department of Commerce.
Funding will be available to households earning less than 50% of the area median income over the previous two months — $2,492 a month for one person or $3,554 for a family of four — the county Health Department said in a statement Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Funding is called the Eviction Rent Assistance Program, which has approximately $2,689,000 earmarked for Whatcom County, the statement said.
Distribution of the funds will start soon and will be available until the end of the year or until the money is gone.
To apply, contact the Opportunity Council at 360-734-5121 extension 316.
The money can cover up to three months of past owed, current, or future rent through December 2020, and will be paid directly to landlords, according to program details released by Commerce on Monday, Aug. 3.
Gov. Jay Inslee first announced the funding on June 30.
The eligibility is broad but the available funds will not meet the demand, according to a Commerce Department press release. According to data from the Census Bureau, 17% of renters in Washington State missed their July rent payment.
For this reason, additional criteria will target the funds toward those at the highest risk of becoming homeless if evicted.
Who can apply?
To apply, a renter must currently make 50% or less than the area median income and have missed at least one rent payment since March.
Someone in the household must also meet one of six possible housing insecurity criteria. This could mean being rent burdened (paying over half your income in rent), having been evicted or experienced housing discrimination or homelessness in the past, having a disability, or being at severe risk for contracting COVID-19.
For those younger than 24 who don’t fit those descriptions, there are additional ways to qualify, such as if you are pregnant or parenting, or have experience in foster care, the court system, or mental health, drug, or alcohol treatment.
Equity focus
The funding distribution also will address racial equity, according to the program guidelines.
Each county is required to distribute a minimum amount of funds to racial and ethnic minorities based on the percentage of each population that earns below the federal poverty line.
For example, in Pierce County, 10% of Black residents and 18% of Hispanic residents make below the federal poverty line. Therefore, at least 10% of the rent assistance recipients in Pierce County must be Black and at least 18% must be Hispanic.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Black renters have been unable to pay rent at significantly higher rates than white renters, according to weekly data collected by the Census Bureau.
Throughout the month of June, between 27% and 47% of Black renters reported being unable to pay that month’s rent. For white renters, that figure averaged about 8%. For Latino renters, it was between 12% and 24%.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 11:35 AM.
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