Maine housing agency caps rental relief to stretch funding further
Starting June 1, rental relief benefits under Maine's federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program will be capped so that funding will last through next winter, the Maine State Housing Authority announced.
The program, administered with 10 local community action agency partners and two cultural-based organizations, is among the first in the nation. The program allows tens of thousands of people, including more than 25,000 children, to remain housed and sheltered, paying more than $189 million in benefits.
MaineHousing noted that the program has helped many tenants avoid eviction through payments to landlords for rent and back rent. About 1,700 households have used program funding to pay for hotel or motel lodging during the pandemic.
In order to extend the program's lifespan, MaineHousing is implementing four key changes to the program:
- Capping payments to hotels based on season and location;
- Limiting program participation to 12 months, rather than 18 months;
- Reducing income eligibility for the program from 80% of area median income to 50%; and
- Limiting coverage to cover only rent, back rent, security deposits and electric utility expenses.
The program will also no longer be available to those already living in subsidized housing.
The length an individual or household can remain eligible for the benefit will also now be capped to one year. The previous length was 18 months. Any applicant currently in the program at or above 11 months will automatically get two additional months unless the additional months put them beyond the program limit.
Without the new limits, MaineHousing estimates that funding would expire this fall.
Earlier this month, Gov. Janet Mills and MaineHousing announced a $20 million program to tackle the state's housing shortage by expanding affordable rental housing across rural parts of the state.
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