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Rent assistance grants available as eviction moratorium set to expire

By Mike Jones newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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County agencies are scrambling to make tenants and landlords aware of a trove of federal money available to help people who are behind on their rent payments with a wave of evictions looming in the near future.

The federal moratorium on evictions that began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring is expected to expire this weekend, meaning people who have been unable to pay their rent could be removed from their residence.

Two rounds of funds through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program will deliver more than $1 billion in rent and utility assistance across the Pennsylvania, along with an additional $278 million in direct assistance that has been divided up and sent to counties in the state with more than 200,000 residents, including Washington County.

Blueprints, the agency in Washington County overseeing the program, has approved 435 out of the 685 applications submitted to receive ERAP money since it began in March, giving out about $2.25 million of the initial $6 million allotment. Only 150 requests have been rejected, but an additional 100 applications are still being processed by the agency and another 350 have yet to be completed by the applicants.

Blueprints Director Jessica Hajek-Bates said the agency is working to let people know about the rent relief program, especially with the eviction moratorium that had been in place since March 2020 set to expire Saturday night.

“We’re doing our best to get the word out through those various means,” Hajek-Bates said. “We also realize that there are people living in Washington County who haven’t experienced such a drastic loss of income who aren’t aware of these (programs).”

The county has to use 65% of that initial $6 million allotment by September, but more money is on the way directly from the U.S. Treasury and a complementary state program, according to Washington County Human Services Director Kim Rogers. Blueprints is in charge of the county’s program because of the direct assistance from the federal government due to the size of its population.

“They really are doing a fantastic job,” Rogers said. “We were able to hit the ground running.”

Grants are determined on a variety of income eligibility standards, and there is additional money to help pay for utility bills.

Those who need assistance in Washington County must make their requests on the Blueprints website at www.myblueprints.org to apply through an online form.

That’s different than other nearby counties, such as Greene and Fayette. People living in those counties are asked to submit their ERAP requests through the state’s online “Compass” portal at www.compass.state.pa.us.

The Greene County Human Services is administering that county’s program, according to Amy Switalski, the department’s administrator for housing and family resources. The process has been slower than expected, she said, but they’re hoping to make more people aware of the program through various advertising initiatives and public events.

“We make sure they’re assigned to caseworkers,” Switalski said of when they receive an application through Compass. “Then the caseworker has to get a hold of them to disburse funds if they’re available.”

As of June 30, Greene County has received 170 applications and sent out $211,177 in payments for rent and utility assistance.

The Fayette County Community Action Agency is handling that county’s ERAP program with similar results. As of July 9, the county had received 909 applications and approved 271 of them so far for a total $846,942 disbursed.

Rita Masi, the agency’s director of customer services, noted that the program can help landlords, making it an important option for everyone severely impacted by the program.

“It’s a great help for the tenants, but for the landlords, it gives them the guarantee that they’ll get paid the money that’s owed them,” Masi said.

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