Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA)
Amount
The federal ERA Program allows local programs to receive up to 18 months of help with rent, including overdue rent, back to March 13, 2020, if the money is available.
Eligibility
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:
- At least one member of your household has:
- Qualified for unemployment or should qualify
- Lost income
- Owed large expenses, OR
- Had other financial hardships
- Your household income is below a certain amount, based on where you live
- 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
To Apply
Apply through your local emergency rental assistance (ERA) program. Each local program has some flexibility in how they set up policies and procedures to suit the needs of their local community. For example, in some areas, you can apply for rental assistance yourself. In other areas, landlords need to submit an application first.