News

Scott announces housing assistance programs

By Patrick Mcardle
Staff Writer
Programs to provide financial assistance to help Vermont tenants, landlord and low-income homeowners struggling because of the pandemic to pay rent and mortgages will be available for application Monday, according to Gov. Phil Scott.

During a news briefing held Friday called to provide the latest information about the state’s effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19, Scott said officials from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development and the Agency of Human Services had worked with the Legislature to develop responses to the concerns about housing.

Two bills, for which Scott thanked Rep. Thomas Stevens, D-Washington-Chittenden, chairman of the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs, and Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden County, chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, were passed, authorizing $85 million in funding for housing assistance.

Two programs using those funds, assisting tenants who can’t pay rent, landlords who are not receiving rent payments and low-income residents who are struggling to pay the mortgages on their homes, will be available Monday.

“Now I know many Vermont families and landlords are struggling, and this won’t be enough and won’t address all their needs, but I’ll continue to look for ways to support them so they can survive this once-in-a-century crisis,” Scott said.

Josh Hanford, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, said the Vermont State Housing Authority, which manages federal rental assistance programs, will administer the $25 million set aside for rental assistance, “providing much needed relief to landlords who are in some cases are owed many months of back rent.”

The Vermont Housing Finance Agency, which finances affordable housing, will administer the $5 million set aside for mortgage assistance payments, “providing some relief to lower income homeowners that could otherwise face foreclosure,” Hanford said.

The need is great, and state officials say they expect the demand will be high, Hanford said, so landlords can get help applying from the Vermont Landlord Association, and Vermont Legal Aid will assist tenants and homeowners.

Richard Williams, executive director of the Vermont State Housing Authority, said housing issues are not new to the state. Even before the pandemic, more than half of Vermont’s renters were spending more than 30% of their income on housing.

The primary goal of the rental stabilization program is “to keep Vermonters housed” during a “public health emergency,” Williams said. The secondary goal is to assist landlords who have lost income.

Tenants and landlords can apply to support an occupied unit. If the application is successful, the money can be used for past-due rent payments, including lots for mobile homes, and for first and last month payments or security deposits for units that are considered secure and affordable.

Money will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Landlords must agree to dismiss late fees or any eviction efforts and can’t evict for lack of payment while the application is pending. Landlords must agree not to discriminate.

The executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Maura Collins, said more than 60% of Vermonters are paying a mortgage on their homes.

“Many of them have been hit hard by the economic toll of the COVID crisis,” she said.

For families who have suffered economic hardship because of the pandemic, the mortgage assistance program will pay up to three months of missed payments, using federal funding, for successful applicants.

The homeowners must have income under a specific limit, and they must have missed at least two mortgage payments since March. The home must be the applicant’s primary residence. It isn’t available for vacation homeowners, she said.

Collins said the program was created to assist those with the greatest need, so unlike the rental assistance program, it is not first-come, first-served.

Applications will be available Monday, Collins said.

“The governor signed this bill (that created the program) on June 2, and I’m very proud that next Monday, just 11 days later, VHFA will launch our online application process where homeowners can apply for this grant,” she said.

More information on the housing assistance programs will be available at accd.vermont.gov. The Vermont State Housing Authority’s website can be accessed at www.vsha.org and vhfa.org is the Vermont Housing Finance Agency’s website address.

Also during the program, Scott spoke about the state’s efforts to test for COVID. He said Kinney Drugs in Newport and Walgreens Pharmacy would offer some COVID testing soon and urged other Vermont pharmacies to consider doing the same.

patrick.mcardle @rutlandherald.com

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