If you’re a Georgia renter who has fallen behind on rent payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may qualify for assistance. The Georgia Rental Assistance Program can provide up to 15 months of rental assistance and utility assistance, paid directly to landlords and service providers on behalf of tenants.
The State of Georgia received $552 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide relief to individuals, families, and landlords whose finances have been negatively impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is being administered by the Department of Community Affairs, and the portal is now open for applications from Landlords and Tenants. You can find the website at: https://georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov/.
Counties that have a population that exceeds 200,000 received a direct allocation of these funds, and households located in one of those jurisdictions are not eligible under the State’s program at this time. Information on coverage and information on local programs that are operational can be found on the Frequently Asked questions (FAQ) page at: https://georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov/faq.
For a household to be eligible for assistance under the State’s program, it must be a renter household living in Georgia and meet the following conditions:
- Earning no more than 80 percent of the current Area Median Income (AMI) for the county or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) of residence as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Has either “qualified for unemployment benefits” or “experienced a loss or reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, which the applicant must attest in writing and
- Can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability by providing:
(I)An eviction notice;
(II)A past rent or utility notice
At this time, eligible households with past due rent or an eviction notice will be prioritized for assistance. Eligible households requesting assistance for past due rent (rental arrears) may also request assistance for up to 3 months future rent and past due utilities.
Eligible households that include an individual who has been unemployed for the 90 days immediately prior to the date of application for assistance and households with income at or below 50 percent of the Area Median Income will also be given priority for assistance.
For more information, please visit the Georgia Rental Assistance program web page https://georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov/
Program Overview
The State of Georgia received $552 million from U.S. Treasury’s Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide relief to individuals, families, and landlords whose finances have been negatively impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will be used to bring pastdue rent and utility payments current. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) will administer this program which will open in March 2021. The money will be distributed directly to landlords, and eligible applicants will receive up to 12 months of payment relief. Individuals must qualify for unemployment or has experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19; demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and have household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Tenant Requirements
Identification (State ID or passport)
Income documents for every adult (age 18 and older) in the household
Past due rent notice or utility bills, provider, and account number
Copy of lease
Attest to unemployment eligibility OR documents showing a reduction in income, significant costs, or financial hardship due directly or indirectly to COVID-19
Landlord Requirements
Identification (State ID or passport)
Proof of ownership or Authorization/Agreement to act on behalf of owner of management company
Statement of Delinquent Rent
W-9 and bank information for ACH payment
Katie A Johnson
April 30, 2021 at 6:23 pm
I qualify for rental assistance and I put my application along with all documents on March 16 the and still have not recieved any contact from https://georgiarentalassistance.ga.gov and when I called the number on the website 8338277368 the lady always tells me I have to contact tech support and their is NEVER a supervisor that I can talk to so I can not check the status of my application. They do not respond to emails either. Can someone please investigate this??
Shanta Renee Napier
June 8, 2021 at 5:39 pm
This is very true I put my application in on March 12th and it still says under review I tried sending a message through the rental assistance messages but nobody responded
Robin
June 26, 2021 at 3:25 pm
My landlord is a leasing company, and the agent we have dealt with the entire time we have lived here (Jennifer) told me in an email that she filled out the landlord section of the application submitted it for us the same day I sent it to her. She went on to say that she personally has filled out hundreds of these applications for tenants since it all started in March of 2020. But unfortunately, she told me that she had not seen even one of their tenants receive any assistance from the program.
Robin
June 26, 2021 at 3:26 pm
I’ve had the exact same issue! My landlord is a leasing company, and the agent we have dealt with the entire time we have lived here (Jennifer) told me in an email that she filled out the landlord section of the application submitted it for us the same day I sent it to her. She went on to say that she personally has filled out hundreds of these applications for tenants since it all started in March of 2020. But unfortunately, she told me that she had not seen even one of their tenants receive any assistance from the program.
Willie Mae
July 8, 2021 at 4:21 pm
My landlord told me the same thing he even showed me that it was approved, but I ended up getting help from a local agency where I live at never heard another word about this rental assistance again now tell me where’s the money going the treasury department put back millions of dollar to help the people but we never got help. I am a COVID survivor as well my rent is falling behind again still no help. No Body wants to talk about the issue at hand it’s like they’re hiding something.
Evden Eve Nakliyat
November 16, 2021 at 1:19 pm
Böyle akıllı çalışma ve raporlama! Sizleri blogroll’uma dahil ettiğim harika işlere devam edin çocuklar. Bence, bu sitemin değerini arttıracak
Randa M.
January 5, 2023 at 8:19 am
This program is a fraud. I put in my application since June 28, 2022. And submitted all documents. Got assigned to a processor Name Mia Ball. The Worst person I had ever met in my life. No communication from her. Came across another Processor name Rosalyn Wright who I thought was going to help me. but give me nothing but false hope. Contacted the Georgia Legal Services who are the last result. Came across a legal representative name Meta Deshazier-Brown who was nothing but unprofessional and unkind. Because Of these three People me and my kids are homeless. This Program is a big joke with unprofessional people. I still did not get any help up to today’s date. This program only help people they know. I even wrote an Appeal letter 3 months ago. Still no reply from. SMH