Select Page

Update on Hays County COVID Emergency Rental Assistance Program

The Hays County COVID Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program has been in place for about six months. In that time, we have processed 384 cases and paid out more than $844,000. An additional $100,000 is currently under review for hotel payments.

Using ERA1 funding from the US Treasury Department, Hays County implemented the ERA program to aid community members who were impacted by COVID relative to rental and utility payments. The goal was to try to prevent people from being evicted or having their utility service shut off because of their inability to pay based on being impacted by COVID.

More than 800 applied for assistance. In some cases, based on the federal rules, not all applicants qualified. In other cases, the applicants weren’t able to provide information relevant to their case. Yet nearly 400 people have been helped with these funds, which are paid directly to landlords, utility companies and hotels.

The US Treasury Department established guidelines and milestones for disseminating the funds into the community. In December, the Treasury Department reallocated $772,791 of our grant funding. We have approximately $4.5 million remaining; no more than 10 percent can be allocated to administrative costs per the US Treasury guidelines. 

We’ve had some recent interest in the status of the program. Unfortunately, there has also been some misinformation disseminated by individuals and media outlets. Hays County is continuing the COVID ERA program as long as there is a need in our community and funding available. 

On our COVID ERA web page, we provide an update:

https://hayscountytx.com/emergency-rental-assistance-program/

On that page you can also learn more about the program and how to apply. If you or someone you know if having difficulty paying rent or utilities or is in jeopardy of being evicted or having services cut off, we encourage you to apply or to assist someone with the application if needed.

 

Hays County