DHA disbursing $1 million in CARES Act rent assistance

October 28, 2020 — DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas (DHA) is scheduled to disburse $1 million in its first wave of CARES Act Rent Relief to eligible Dallas residents who applied in the first month of the program. The City of Dallas authorized DHA to distribute approximately $4 million in CARES Act funding through this program, so the agency will be distributing another $3 million in rent relief assistance by December 2020.

The City of Dallas COVID-19 Rent Relief program, funded by the CARES Act, is a federally funded initiative designed to help low income households that have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 through the loss of their employment income or who sustained a reduction in income and are delinquent in paying rent.

To make it easier to access these critical funds, the City of Dallas has implemented the following changes to the rent relief program:

• Originally the program offered rent assistance for two months of past due rent up to $3,000, but these caps have been lifted. DHA can now disburse up to $5,000 of rent relief funds for eligible applicants for up to six months of assistance through the end of December 2020.
• Landlords with eligible tenants who are behind on their rent can now begin the application process on behalf of their eligible tenants through the application site, which can be accessed

“DHA understands that many families are in great need,” said Dr. Myriam Igoufe, vice president of Policy Development & Research for DHA. “We have implemented these changes to the program to make it easier for Dallas residents to get the help they need and we encourage people to apply – we are processing applications and making rent payments very efficiently. Help is on the way!”

“From some of the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas and DHA have worked hand-in-hand to support struggling renters, and rental housing owners. Allowing rental housing owners and managers to initiate these assistance requests and aid residents with the application process is just one more important way DHA is streamlining the disbursement of these vital funds. We are pleased to see additional rent relief assistance being made available to Dallas residents impacted by COVID-19 and hope other agencies and organizations will follow a similar path to provide lower barriers and faster disbursements,” said Ian Mattingly, president of LumaCorp Inc., and president-elect of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas.

Landlords who are looking to help their tenants access rent relief funds may access the application on the same website: https://dallascaresactrent.org/. To apply, landlords should have their W-9 and the tenant’s lease information available.

Tenants who are behind on their rent due to COVID-19 can apply for assistance at https://dallascaresactrent.org/ as well.

The CARES Act rent assistance funding is through the City of Dallas and is not affiliated with the Housing Choice Voucher program. Eligible/approved tenants would receive temporary rent assistance without any obligations. Families who already receive assistance from DHA or any other affordable housing resource are not eligible for this temporary CARES Act assistance.

To qualify for assistance, applicants must: 

• Live in the City of Dallas
• Be the primary lease holder
• Have been financially impacted by COVID-19, either through job loss or lost hours
• Have household income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income

All rent assistance program details and the online application for both tenants and landlords can be accessed via computer or mobile device here in English, Spanish or Vietnamese: https://dallascaresactrent.org/.