Secure Your Home, Relieve Your Rent Burden with ERAP

Applicants can use the ERAP Portal to upload documents, check application status, log into their landlord or tenant account to edit or add a W9, add applications to their account, and more, at any time.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) will provide significant economic relief to help low and moderate-income households at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability by providing rental arrears, temporary rental assistance and utility arrears assistance.

The federal ERA Program allows local programs to cover rent, utilities, and home energy costs. This includes electricity, gas, fuel oil, water and sewer, and trash removal. If your landlord normally pays for utilities or home energy costs, these are counted as part of your rent.

Rental assistance may also cover:

• Reasonable late fees (if not included in your rental or utility debt)
• Internet service to your home
• Moving expenses and other rental-related fees (such as security deposits, application fees, or screening fees) for families who have to move

Some programs may also provide housing counseling, case management, legal representation, and other housing stability services.

To be eligible for help covering your rent, you must have an agreement to pay rent for your home or mobile home lot. You don’t necessarily need to have a signed lease, and your home could be an apartment, house, mobile home, or other place.

These three statements also need to be true:

1. At least one member of your household has:
   • Qualified for unemployment or should qualify
   • Lost income
   • Owed large expenses, OR
   • Had other financial hardships
2. Your household income is below a certain amount, based on where you live
3. At least one member of your household is experiencing housing instability, which means they are at risk of becoming homeless or would have trouble finding a stable place to live

Eligibility is based on a renter household’s financial situation and housing needs.

When you apply for emergency rental help, you will be asked to show that your income is eligible and that you’re experiencing housing instability. If you’re a landlord, eligibility is based on your tenant’s household needs, and you’ll be asked to show that your tenant’s household is eligible for assistance.

You must sign a written statement that the information in your application is correct and complete, and that you will use the emergency rental assistance for the costs it is meant to cover.

In some cases, the program may contact your landlord or utility provider and ask them to accept emergency rental assistance to pay off what you owe. If they do not agree, or if they do not respond within seven days (or within five days, if the program contacts your landlord by phone, text, or e-mail), your local program may be able to give the money to you. Then you must use the money to pay the landlord or utility yourself.

In other cases, your local program might give you the money right away, without first contacting your landlord. Either way, you must then use the money to pay what you owe.

Starting May 7, 2023, landlords who accept direct payments of future rent are not allowed to evict you for not paying rent during the period covered by the rental assistance. When programs make direct payments to landlords to cover back rent, guidance strongly encourages them to prohibit eviction for 30 to 90 days after the period covered by rental assistance.

If you live in a manufactured home or mobile home, you can get rental help. You can also get help with rent for the lot that your home sits on, even if you own your manufactured home. Like other renters, you may also qualify for help with utilities or other housing-related expenses.

Rental assistance can also be used to cover mooring fees.

When you apply for emergency rental help, be ready to show an agreement signed by you and your landlord that shows where you live and your rental payment amount.

If you don’t have a signed rental agreement or lease, local programs may accept proof of your address and a written statement about your rent, such as:

• Proof that you paid utilities for your home or apartment unit (like a water bill)
• A statement from your landlord, or
• Other reasonable proof as requested

You may also be able to show your rental payment amount with:

• Bank statements
• Check stubs
• Other paperwork that shows regular rent payments, or
• Other reasonable proof as requested

If you give a written statement, local programs may require you to certify that you did not receive – and don’t expect to get – help from a different source to cover the same rental costs. For instance, if your rent is subsidized by a federal agency like the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), you can’t get help from your local program to cover the federally subsidized portion of your rent. But you can get help to cover the part of the rent that you are responsible for.

Money from the federal ERA Program is for renters only. But money from the Homeowner Assistance Fund created under the American Rescue Plan Act may also be available. If you’re experiencing hardship as a homeowner, visit our Help for homeowners page to learn about your options.

You don’t have to be behind on rent to get assistance. Some programs offer help with future rent. However, if you have overdue rent, the money you get must go toward rent that you owe before it can be used for future rent.

es. If your household is eligible for emergency rental assistance, local programs may cover the cost of a hotel or motel room if:

• You had to move out of your home and you don’t have a permanent home elsewhere
• You can provide hotel or motel bills or other evidence of your stay, and
• Your local program follows the rules for this emergency rental assistance

If emergency rental assistance is not available to help cover these costs, you can also ask for help under the HUD Emergency Solutions Grant program. Visit Benefits.gov

for more information about Emergency Solutions Grants.