The Hidalgo County Community Service Agency announced the launch of a new rental relief program for county residents who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hidalgo County Rental Relief Program launched Monday in an effort to provide emergency rent support to tenants and landlords who meet certain criteria.
The HCCSA began providing rental assistance in March of last year with funds from their own block grant money. In July 2020, the agency was able to pull federal virus relief funds to provide rent relief.
HCCSA Director Jaime Longoria explained that the county received $26 million from the U.S. Department of the Treasury for this new rent relief program.
“In January of this year, the county was notified from the Department of the Treasury that they had been earmarked $26 million for rental relief — specifically for Hidalgo County,” Longoria said. “That’s $26 million for utilities and rent relief.”
Longoria said that this money will be available for the county through the end of 2022, at which point it will expire.
In order to qualify for the rent relief, applicants must qualify for unemployment or have experienced financial difficulties as a result of COVID-19, must demonstrate housing instability, and they must have a combined household income at or below 80% of the area median income, or $47,100 for a family of four.
Longoria said that there appeared to be a lack of interest in the financial assistance programs last year. He said that he hopes that more residents will take the opportunity to apply for the rental assistance program.
He also believes that the low numbers of applicants could be a result of people turning to their own savings and resources, as well as landlords and tenants working together to make ends meet at the height of the pandemic.
“The demand was a lot less than I had expected,” Longoria said. “I was surprised that there wasn’t higher demand. We did help mortgages and we did help with rent.”
He added that the funding is part of a grant and therefore will not need to be paid back.
“It’s two-pronged in that it’s a little different because tenants can apply for the assistance that they need, and landlords can also apply on behalf of their tenants,” Longoria said. “What’ll happen is that a tenant will get a notification saying that, ‘your landlord has applied on your behalf, and we need you to complete the application.’
“We’re hoping that that’s going to add to the numbers of people that will be applying and the amount of assistance that we can give out.”
Applicants should be prepared to show proof of residency, proof of income, and proof of deed when applying for the program. Residents may apply by calling (833) 209-5023, or by visiting www.hidalgocsa.org.
Application assistance is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the previously mentioned phone number.
“We encourage people to apply,” Longoria said. “None of this is reported to immigration authorities. None of this is reported to anyone that people would ‘fear.’ This is a program that is really designed to assist families who are struggling because of the pandemic.”
