The Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) portal for the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP) will be available until 11:59 p.m. On March 21, 2022, at 12:00 a.m. PDT. The United States notified the state late yesterday. Following numerous requests, the Department of Treasury announced that it would receive an additional $16 million in federal emergency rental assistance funding.
Additional funds
The federal government set aside more than $289 million for rental assistance, which state officials say has been distributed to 40,000 people. It has applied for an additional $208 million. The state has repeatedly asked for more funding from the federal government and in December received an additional $1 million from the treasury.
They have taken action through solid-state and local partnerships to successfully allocate historic levels of aid to renters and landlords, and to get Oregonians the help they desperately need, said Gov. Kate Brown in a statement, Yahoo News wrote.
Not all applicants are eligible
Since the portal re-opened in January, 24,478 applications have been received on Tuesday, March 15. According to federal eligibility guidelines, not all submitted applications are qualified for payment. If a tenant has an incomplete application in the portal, they have until March 28, 2022, to finish it. This extension applies to applications that are still being completed at the time of closure.
As early as this week, OHCS will start processing and paying out applications submitted in 2022. According to Ron Garcia, executive director of public policy for the Rental Housing Alliance of Oregon, landlords are in limbo while waiting for their funding. Still unable to evict anyone who applied for aid, Katu 2 posted.
Anyone who has not previously applied for OERAP and has fallen behind on rent is recommended to contact online at oregonrentalassistance.org. After the state portal closes, local organizations will continue to provide assistance. Call 211 or visit the 211 website for more information on these programs.
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