Grant Housing Authority has money to help with back rent

MOSES LAKE — If you live in Grant or Adams counties, and you’re behind on your rent, there’s still help available.

But unless Congress acts, it will go away at the end of the month.

“We’ve received $1 million, and we’re getting that out the door as quickly as possible,” said Carol Anderson, executive director of the Housing Authority of Grant County.

The money is part of $120 million in federal money given to Washington as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to help renters who have missed or partly missed a rent payment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic since Mar. 1, according to Kathy Kinnard, who administers the rental assistance program for the Washington Department of Commerce.

The Eviction Rent Assistance Program (ERAP) was established in August, and applications will be accepted through Dec. 30, when the legal authority to spend CARES Act money expires, Kinnard said. Payments will cover 80% of fair market rental value as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and while the renter submits the application, payments will be made directly to landlords.

“Around 125,000 people in Washington have missed rent payments,” Kinnard said. “But the $120 million will only assist maybe half of those with need.”

Brett Waller, director of governmental affairs for the Washington Multifamily Housing Association, said that of those who are late paying rent, most are “not behind more than three months” and are fairly easily helped by rental assistance programs.

There are 1.2 million rental units in Washington, about half of those are in multifamily properties of five or more units, Waller said. However, the typical landlord owns two units and pays about 91 cents out of every dollar in rental income for operating costs like insurance, maintenance, taxes, improvements and the mortgage, Waller said.

However, Waller added that rental assistance programs are necessary supports for both renters and landlords alike.

“It’s something, and that goes a long way to paying the costs of providing rental housing,” he said.

Steffanie Bonwell, the housing authority compliance manager overseeing ERAP for Grant and Adams counties, said the authority has received 588 applications and has paid out more than $450,000 to cover late rent since March.

“We pay an average of three months of rent, two months of back rent and one payment of future rent, in order to get people caught up, but the maximum payment we made was for six months,” she said.

Kinnard said the program, along with Gov. Jay Inslee’s eviction moratorium, are helping to keep homelessness at bay following record job losses as a result of the spring’s COVID-19 stay-at-home and business closures.

“It’s working,” she said. “But there’s a big, scary cliff at the end of December, and there’s a lot of fear.”

To apply for the rental assistance, Grant and Adams County residents should contact the Housing Authority of Grant County at ​509-762-5541.

“We’re really good at answering the phone and returning phone calls,” Anderson said.