Union County has taken the initiative to support families negatively affected by COVID-19 by allocating funding through the U.S. Department of the Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance Funds for the Union County COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program to disburse the funds in the community.

To be eligible to receive the emergency rental, utilities, and or security deposit assistance, you must meet the criteria below.

• Your place of residence must be within Union County;
• Your place of residence must be a rental property, single or multi-family home, or mobile home lot;
• You must be able to show that you are unable to pay the full or a portion of past due rent and/or utilities or unable to pay the security deposit as a result of a recent loss of income (job loss, furlough, reduced work hours to care for the child(ren), or medical hospitalization/diagnosis of COVID-19;
• You must have qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a loss of income as a result of COVID-19;
• You must be at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability;
  You must have a current executed lease (signed by both you and the property official/landlord) and, as the applicant, be listed on the lease agreement (unless applying for security deposit assistance – provide welcome/move-in letter); and
• Current household income after March 13, 2020 must be equal to or less than 80% AMI as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Assistance will be based on current household income and total monthly rent, utilities, and/or security deposit amount. There is no cap to the amount of assistance received but amounts above $7,000 will require special approval.

Yes. However, your unemployment must be a result of COVID-19.

No. The applicant is not required to have arrears to be eligible for emergency rental assistance.

Yes, applicants who receive subsidized housing are eligible to apply up to the monthly tenant responsible portion.

Yes. With special approval, applicants can receive assistance for up to 3 months of prospective rent. However, this only happens once, and you can only receive arrear payments after three months of future rent payments.

Yes, as long as you meet the eligibility requirements. However, you will still need to provide a copy of your lease agreement.