NEW JERSEY — Eligible families in New Jersey may be able to get more help paying their rent through the federal Emergency Rent Assistance (ERA) program, which was created during the pandemic.
This is because the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) announced that it would receive an additional $31.45 million in federal program funds to help renter families in New Jersey, those who face financial difficulties and other pressing problems. needs.
With this additional $31.45 million, between 2,500 and 3,000 families on the Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program (CVERAP) waiting list will receive assistance from DCA. Families participating in the program received an average of $8,742 in assistance.
This is the seventh reallocation of ERA funds granted to DCA since January 2022.
“Although the worst of the pandemic has passed, its effects are still impacting the lives of many New Jersey families, limiting their ability to pay current and overdue rent. That’s why we appreciate the federal government providing additional relief funds to our state for emergency housing assistance because we will definitely use it to help more families,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as commissioner of the DCA. “Emergency rental assistance has been instrumental in keeping families in their homes. For that, we thank our federal partners. We appreciate their attention to reallocating funds to those who need it most.”
The application period for the CVERAP and eviction prevention programs has ended, but the state has put in place key eviction prevention measures for renters who have experienced financial hardship during the pandemic.
With funds from ERA, DCA has helped more than 75,750 New Jersey families through the CVERAP2 program, which began in July 2021 to help with late and future rent payments for up to 12 months. More than 15,000 families have benefited from the first phase of the CVERAP program launched in July 2020 in response to the pandemic.
In addition to CVERAP, DCA administers the $500 million Eviction Prevention Program (EPP) funds, established by Public Law 2021 signed into law by Governor Murphy in August 2021. Through the EPP program, DCA provides assistance rent on a monthly basis, for up to two years, to nearly 31,800 families, many of whom have also benefited from CVERAP assistance.
The Eviction Prevention Initiative, established by Public Law 2021, sent 28 media facilitators to every local court in the state to help tenants and landlords prevent evictions.
In addition, DCA last year accepted applications from 4,000 families on the waiting list for the state Rental Assistance Program, which has been publicly funded for decades to provide housing vouchers. , on behalf of very low-income New Jersey residents, to provide access to adequate, safe and healthy housing. Additionally, earlier this year, DCA accepted 20,000 families from the state’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program waitlist, which is a federal government-funded and administered by DCA and which provides subsidies to New Jersey residents so that they can afford quality housing. .
DCA offers a wide range of programs and services, covering local government administration and finance, affordable housing development, fire prevention, building safety, community planning and development, disaster recovery and mitigation of its effects, as well as privacy information.
For more information about the DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/