Mills to double rental assistance, fund efforts to address COVID-19 racial disparity
Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday a $5 million infusion into Maine’s rental assistance program, allowing for a doubling of the monthly payments, as well as an additional $1 million aimed at addressing the massive racial and ethnic disparity in COVID-19 cases.
Beginning Monday, MaineHousing will accept applications from renters for payments of up to $1,000 per month for three months, which is double the current $500 assistance authorized in April as the coronavirus pandemic hit Maine’s economy. Payments will be paid directly to landlords who, in turn, must agree to not evict tenants.
In announcing the expanded rental assistance, Mills said more than 6,700 renters or families have been approved for payments since April to the tune of $3.3 million, with thousands more applications pending. But Mills called the $5 million “just a starting point” and said that she hopes the federal government will provide states with additional funding that can be used for rental assistance.
“As the Maine Supreme Judicial Court now plans to reopen courts for (eviction) filings next week, and as the federal government appears to be poised to reduce unemployment benefits … I am very concerned that Maine people will be facing a housing cliff, as it were, losing income and also losing rent relief and becoming subject to eviction,” Mills said.
Read more: https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/07/30/one-death-27-new-cases-of-covid-19-reported-in-maine/
(Lewiston Sun Journal)
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