Virginia Makes $160M In Rental Assistance Available To Tenants

VIRGINIA — Virginia received $524 in new federal funding to help residents pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor announced Tuesday.

Gov. Ralph Northam said the state was immediately putting $160 million into the Virginia Rent Relief Program to increase housing stability across the state. The state said it will make additional funding for rent relief available based upon need. The program will be administered by the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

The Virginia Rent Relief Program is funded through the federal Emergency Rental Assistance program. The coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress in December provided $25 billion in additional emergency rental relief to states and localities.

Northam made the announcement in Arlington at the Gilliam Place Apartments, which is owned by the nonprofit organization Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing. The affordable apartment complex, located near the corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road, opened less than two years ago.

“This new federal funding will provide an important lifeline to individuals and families, and bolster our ongoing work to address housing affordability in the Commonwealth,” Northam said in a statement. “I urge eligible households to act quickly and work with their landlords to seek rental assistance through this program.”

Last June, Virginia created a statewide rent and mortgage relief program with Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. To date, the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program has distributed more than $83.7 million in rent and mortgage payments for households in the state. The General Assembly allocated Virginia Housing Trust Funds to continue supporting the program prior to the new federal allocation.

The new Emergency Rental Assistance program funding does include mortgage relief like the CARES Act did.

On Tuesday, though, the Biden administration announced an expansion and extension of federal forbearance and foreclosure relief programs. The foreclosure moratorium for homeowners through has been extended through June 30.

Last month, the administration ordered the Centers for Disease Control to extend the eviction moratorium through at least March 31. The eviction moratorium was set to expire on Jan 31.

Among local jurisdictions in Virginia, Chesterfield County and Fairfax County will operate their own Emergency Rental Assistance program-funded rent relief programs for their residents.

Fairfax County received an additional $34 million from the federal government to provide emergency rental assistance to residents experiencing economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virginia tenants outside Chesterfield and Fairfax Counties struggling to pay rent should contact their landlords for the quickest path to rental assistance, the state said. Virginia law requires landlords to work with their tenant to apply for this assistance. Landlords can submit an applications by visit virginiahousing.com/rentrelief.

Tenants interested in applying should check their eligibility by completing a self-assessment at dhcd.virginia.gov/eligibility or by calling 211 to speak with a community resource specialist.

Tenants may be eligible for rent arrears payments back to April 1, 2020, and up to three months of payments into the future. The total payments may not exceed 15 months of rental assistance per household.

“RRP is based on a unique, collaborative partnership between tenants and landlords to ensure both remain whole amid the pandemic,” Virginia Commerce and Trade Secretary Brian Ball said in a statement.

Additional information about Virginia Rent Relief Program is available at dhcd.virginia.gov/RRP.

If you live in Virginia and your family has struggled to pay for housing during the pandemic and are willing to share your story, please email Patch Editor Mark Hand at mark.hand@patch.com.