Board of Supervisors approves $8 million for rent and utility assistance program

The Eviction Prevention/Emergency Rent and Utility Relief Program builds on the county’s collaboration last year with the Community Investment Corporation (CIC) to develop a new platform that helped speed up the rental assistance process, including allowing landlords to initiate the application.

The city, with $19.1 million in funding, has joined this effort, giving any applicant within the County a single point of contact, removing any confusion about where to apply and avoiding potential delays.

“We’re forming one network so people can easily file their claims and have them processed quickly,” said Dan Sullivan, director of the County’s Community & Workforce Development Department. “This is going to do a lot of good in our community so folks can stay in their homes and landlords can be made whole.”

The Community Action Agency already has begun processing applications that have come in through the CIC portal, which has a backlog of more than 4,000 potential claims due to a gap of more than three months in federal funding. It is estimated it will take two to three months to work through the backlog.

“Our commitment is to expend these funds in the most timely manner possible,” said CAA program manager Manira Cervantes. “Our goal is to truly prevent eviction. We don’t want to add to the homelessness and to COVID-19, which is what happens when you have a lot of people out on the street.”

The current eviction moratorium from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expires March 31 but could be extended. Tenants must fill out the CDC form and give it to their landlord in order to be protected from eviction.

More information about eviction protection and other resources for tenants (such as legal and employment services) are available at pima.gov/renthelp.

MEDIA CONTACT

Dan Sullivan

Community & Workforce Development Director

520-724-7309 | daniel.sullivan@pima.gov