It’s a slow start to the COVID-19 Emergency Rent Relief Program with more than 60 applications rejected for living outside city limits. More than 300 have applied, according to city officials.
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BARTOW — Three days after Lakeland began taking applications from city residents for assistance paying their rent and utilities, city employees have fielded 329 applications and have denied 62.
But those applications weren’t rejected because of income limits or financial circumstances not related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“More than 90 percent were rejected because they didn’t live in the city limits,” said Brian Rewis, assistant director of Lakeland’s Community & Economic Development. “There are so many people who have a Lakeland mailing address and assume they live in the city.”
Through Wednesday, city employees have taken more than 700 calls seeking information about the $930,000 the city has made available through the Emergency Rent Relief Program, he said. Since problems have surfaced concerning residency status, callers now are being asked for their address at the top of those conversations.
“We’re making sure they live inside the city limits before we go any further,” Rewis said Wednesday.
After three days, awaiting further information or verifications on 28 of the applications, another 239 were in the queue waiting to be reviewed, Rewis said.
None of the 329 applications has been approved yet.
“We’re pushing the staff to get these things processed so we can start sending out checks,” he said. “We’re hoping to get the first round of checks out next Friday.”
He said the city will process the payments weekly and send checks out each Friday until the funding runs out.
“We’re anticipating we’ll have enough funding to help about 200 families,” Rewis said, “and just because we have 254 applications pending doesn’t mean we’re out of money yet. We don’t know how many of those may not qualify, so we’re encouraging anyone in the city who needs help to go ahead and apply.”
Under the program’s guidelines, applicants must live inside the city limits and be delinquent on their rent or utility payments. They also must be able to verify loss of income resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including job loss, furlough or reduced working hours. In addition, Rewis said, the program’s restrictions limit a household’s total income to no more than $47,050 for a family of four or $37,670 for a family of two, representing 80 percent of the area’s average median income.
Rewis said a full listing of the program’s income requirements is on the city’s website, https://ift.tt/3c6kbWV, which is also where applications can be submitted online.
The city also has established a dedicated program hotline at 863-834-CARE (2273).
County assistance program
Polk County began offering a similar rental assistance program last month to residents living outside Lakeland who’ve been impacted by the coronavirus, and this week approved the allocation of an additional $30 million in federal funding for rental assistance. County administrators are still working out the details for allocating the additional funding.
Since Lakeland has its own rental assistance program, residents there must apply through that city.
The county’s existing program, which began processing applications April 13, has provided rental assistance to nine applicants, said Tamara West, the county’s Housing & Neighborhood Development manager. The $1.95 million program has been more cumbersome to manage because applications are coming in through fax and by mail, and some are being dropped off. Other applicants are using their phones to apply and sending photos of required documents, she said, but they haven’t been able to send all that is needed.
In total, about 2,100 have inquired about assistance, but Polk County is handling only a portion of those inquiries. Other partners, including non-profit groups working with the Homeless Coalition of Polk County, are assisting.
Currently, Polk County is assisting 189 applicants as they move through the process. So far, nine applications have been approved and 12 others have been either withdrawn or denied, West said.
Like the Lakeland program, those seeking funding through the county must meet the income requirements, must be delinquent on their rent and their income must have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, West said.
Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.
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