COVID-19: Landlord Emergency Grant Program for Small Rental Complexes
Published on August 01, 2020
Benefits Landlords and Tenants in Morris County
Gov. Phil Murphy has announced creation of the Small Landlord Emergency Grant Program, to provide emergency grant funding to small property owners for COVID-19 related decreases in rent revenue for a four-month period between April and July of this year.
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The program, to be administered by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, is funded through the federal CARES Act.
Grant amounts will be based on the total amount of missed rental payments and the number of COVID-impacted rental units that serve low- and moderate-income tenants.
Landlords who receive assistance will be required to pass along benefits to their tenants by forgiving back rent and late fees accumulated by COVID-19 impacted units.
Applications must be submitted between Aug. 19 and Aug. 26.
Ensuring that responsible landlords can continue to maintain their properties and provide quality housing to our tenants is essential to our recovery,'' said Gov. Murphy. "Through this program, we also can provide direct support to COVID-impacted renters by forgiving back-rent.
Approximately 30 percent of New Jersey renters and 27 percent of low- and moderate-income renters live in three-to-ten unit buildings, explained Charles Richman, Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
One-third of program funds will be reserved for applicants who are registered in DCA's RIMS database as individual or family owners.
Qualified applicants must meet the following specifications:
- Owners with properties that have at least 3 but no more than 10 total housing units;
- Owners with properties that are not seasonal or vacation rentals;
- Properties must have current fire inspection certificates as of March 9, 2020;
- Owners of properties with at least one non-vacant rental unit impacted by COVID-19 between April and July 2020; and
- Owners with properties that have low- to moderate-income rent levels or rent based on up to 80% of the median area income.
Applications must be submitted between Aug. 19 and Aug. 26.
Grant funding will be allocated based on the number of COVID-impacted units, and the amount of missed rent. Applicants must be the Primary Property Owner of a residential rental property in New Jersey and be registered with DCA's Bureau of Housing Inspection as of July 17. Applicants can check here to see if their property is registered.
For more information on the Small Landlord Emergency Grant Program,visit www.njhousing.gov/rentals/sleg