Safe Passages has partnered with the State of California’s COVID-19 Rent Relief Program to assist income eligible households with financial assistance for unpaid rent and utilities. To qualify for the program:
- Families and individuals must have experienced financial hardships due to COVID‐19,
- Have past due rent or utilities, and
- Have a household income that is not more than 80% of the area median income.
Eligible participants may receive funds to pay past due or future rent and utilities from the state of California.
If you are a landlord and participate in the COVID‐19 Rent Relief program, you may be reimbursed for 80% of your eligible renters’ unpaid rent accrued between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, if you agree to waive the remaining 20% of their unpaid rent from that same time.
If you are an eligible renter, you may apply on your own and receive 25% of your unpaid rent that was accrued between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, even if your landlord does not participate. This combined assistance can help our community members stay housed once California’s eviction protections expire on June 30, 2021. Additional financial assistance available through the CA COVID‐19 Rent Relief program includes help paying past due utility payments accrued from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021, as well as help paying future utility bills, both of which may be paid at 100% of cost but are limited to a total of 12 months.
Landlords and renters can verify eligibility immediately by visiting HousingIsKey.com, or by calling 833‐430‐2122, and if eligible, apply. Required information, such as necessary verification items, will be required for applications to be processed. Once an application has been processed, both the landlord and renter will be notified about the application status and next steps.
We encourage both landlords and tenants with overdue rent bills to take advantage of this opportunity! COVID-19 has created many financial challenges for families and individuals, but thankfully, past-due rent no longer has to be one of those challenges.
