COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance
NOW OPEN!
Broward County understands that rental assistance is an area of great need. This page will be updated to provide the most current resources available.
Broward County is working with community partners to launch the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to help residents who experienced financial hardships due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The program enables local governments to allocate emergency funding to residents who are unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application portal will go live at the end of April 2021.
Based on the guidelines and eligibility requirements below, residents are encouraged to start gathering supporting documents with more instructions to come following the launch of the application portal.
Eligibility:
An eligible household is defined as a renter household in which at least one or more individuals meet the following criteria:
- Qualifies for unemployment or has expierenced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19;
- Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and
- Has a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median.
Guidelines:
- Funds must be used for direct financial assistance, including rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs, and utilities and home energy cost arrears.
- Landlord and tenant must both agree to participate and provide the necessary documentation; however, the tenant must be the qualified party.
- Funds will be paid directly to landlords and utility service providers.
- The program may cover up to 12 month of assistance, plus an additional 3 months prospectively if the grantee continues to meet eligibility requirements and extra months are needed to ensure housing stability.
- Household income is determined as either the household’s total income for calendar year 2020 or the household’s monthly incomes at the time of application.
- Assistance will be available until money has been depleted.
- There will be an online application portal and 4 onsite locations in the South, Central, and North quadrants of the county.
NOTE: If your annual household income is at or below the maximum income limits in the chart above, you may qualify for this Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
How to Apply:
Visit Broward.org/RentAssistance for additional information and to apply. To reach the call center, dial 888-692-7203.
For non-COVID-19 related assistance, please contact your nearest Family Success Center for services.
