Delaware rolls out financial aid for renters, homeowners late on rent, mortgage payments
From The News Journal
Delaware is going to spend $40 million to help residents who are struggling to pay rent or mortgages during the coronavirus pandemic.
Eligible renters and homeowners can get up to $5,000 in aid. The money would be paid directly to the property owner or mortgage servicer.
Gov. John Carney and the Delaware State Housing Authority announced Monday that the state is resurrecting the Delaware Housing Assistance Program to help people who are missing payments because they lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The program was originally launched in late March but then halted a few weeks later because it was swamped with applications. At the time, they received requests from three times more tenants than they originally set aside funds to help.
The $40 million to pay for this program comes from the federal CARES Act, which Congress passed in late March to help states and local governments cover coronavirus-related expenses. The state is paying half from its share of the federal money and New Castle County is paying the other half.
Using weekly Census surveys, the financial consulting firm Stout Risius Ross LLC found about 29% of renters in Delaware at the end of July had no or only slight confidence in their ability to pay the next month’s rent. That firm also estimated a monthly shortfall of $10 million in rent statewide.