Massachusetts Community Mediation Centers also offer free pre-court mediation between landlords and tenants for COVID-19 related lease disputes in addition to the summary process cases referred through the courts. Say a tenant has applied for RAFT, but the landlord, unable to wait, starts eviction before receiving RAFT response. People applying for RAFT must do so in the region where they intend to use their RAFT benefits. TheVolunteer Lawyers Projectassists low-income owners of 1-4 family homes with referrals, legal information, and legal representation for COVID-related evictions statewide in Housing Court. Please limit your input to 500 characters. Please limit your input to 500 characters. Eventually, that number increased, and families were able to access up to $4,000 in funds, with the possibility of reapplying after 12 months if they needed additional assistance. A map of DHCDs regional administering agencies throughout the state with names in key.CC-BY SA 4.0 MassLandlords. DHCD's federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and Subsidized Housing Emergency Rental Assistance (SHERA) stopped taking new applications on April 15, 2022. The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. Note that you as the landlord must provide information for the RAFT application. Learn more about RAFT here. RAFT provides qualifying households with up to $10,000 per household in a 12-month period to preserve current housing or move to new housing. Starting Nov. 14, landlords or tenants in these areas were able to file new RAFT applications through the portal. In case you cannot afford counsel, a provision of the governors Eviction Diversion Initiative set aside funds to help provide legal counsel to people who could not afford representation (a sizable percentage of mom-and-pop landlords). Mass.gov is a registered service mark of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Renter advocates, who (like all attorneys) must zealously defend their clients, would likely raise the discrimination issue. Submitted lets the landlord or tenant know that the application has been submitted but is still waiting for the other party to match with the application using the specialized code. If you do not provide the required information within two weeks, your application will be timed out. It is very important to submit a complete application. RAFT can pay up to $10,000 in back rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, future rent, mortgage payments or moving costs if: You are homeless or about to become homeless, and Your income is less than 80% of Area Median Income. fhousing@lhand.org The application will also require property owner documents if requesting arrears or start-up costs. (781) 581-8600, Hours CC BY-SA 4.0 MassLandlords. RAFT can cover utilities, moving costs, and overdue rent costs, as well as future rent in limited situations. 2. The program allows renters whose income has been affected by COVID-19 and the economic response to receive up to $10,000 in public assistance to cover rent payments, past, present and/or future. Our staff will call back to assist you in the order your message was received. contact the Housing and Community Development. Proceed with caution if you are a landlord considering declining RAFT COVID funding, especially in cases in which the funds would fully cover rent arrears, could cure nonpayment, and/or stabilize the tenancy. The new application portal is designed to replace the current central application process. The RAFT COVID program appears to be presented as an option for landlords to accept or decline. Find your regional agency and income eligibility data, Find Spanish language resources for landlords, FAQs for landlords about accepting state funded rental assistance. For households applying to RAFT for assistance with rent arrears, a Notice to Quit or eviction notice/court summons is now required. Landlords can apply for RAFT! These deadlines were shared with MassLandlords and others by a state official over the March 25, 2021, stakeholder zoom. Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program. Chinese and Khmer applications are not fillable at this time and need to be scanned. The best way to apply is online. hoGI(RB@PEBi`71UsgB&v/$R5&i-md-kTlt+7j?h-??ex^6t{@E^g8 pwW_m\_|)1cdC1O #`QNdV1EQ(z62 g2m(A32 323CGQj Tb*3Pkddzic#0"Z#5D9H]8O$S1{=%z$D)Q]B &U&$|%)!8ABQJug|,PX%p|,x Mediation is a confidential, voluntary and non-judgmental process where a neutral third party (the mediator) helps people resolve differences based on what is important to them. Some page levels are currently hidden. It is very important landlords coordinate with tenants before they apply for rental assistance. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Better Lives. We can help. Charlie Baker recently announced $100 million . If youown a 1-4 family home and are having trouble paying your mortgage, you may also be eligible for mortgage assistanceunder the states Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) program which includes assistance for eligible owner-occupants of 1-4 family homes. If you have already submitted an application, you can use this portal to upload additional documents and see which RAA is processing your application: If you are unable to upload additional documents to the portal, you may also provide them in ONE of the following ways: Please include the applicants name and Application ID# on all documents. Examples include, but are not limited to, Notice to Quit, courtsummons, utility shutoff notice., Name, DOB, sex, race, ethnicity and SSN (when available) forall adultmembers of the household, Identification for the head of household (Examples: photo id, license, birth certificate,passport), Rental information: Lease/tenancy agreement, amount of rent,amount of arrears, whether they have a rental subsidy, Household income (see more details here on income verification), W-9 from payee (landlord/property owner). Your support is critical to help alleviate and prevent the impact of homelessness in Boston. It is important to submit a complete application for RAFT to receive support quickly. Also, the MassLandlords Helpline is a valuable resource for business advice and legal information. Thank you for your website feedback! If a family had used RAFT funds to stave off becoming homeless, but in the end were not able to remain in housing, they could see less HomeBASE funding later on. We also have RAFT Application walk in hours on Tuesday and Friday 9:30am-11:30am and Wednesday 1:00-3:00pm. The program started Nov. 14 in two regions, with statewide rollout expected sometime in mid-December. Landlords should consult their own legal counsel for advice before declining rental assistance that covers all outstanding rent arrears. RAFT can provide up to $10,000 per household within a 12-month period to help preserve current housing or move to new housing. John Fisher, author of the Massachusetts Rental Owners Property Management Manual, said that RAFT regional agencies make direct payments to participating vendors (meaning landlords, utility companies, etc.). Upon application submission, you will be asked to provide: Proof of ownership of the unit. You skipped the table of contents section. The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. They were eligible to reapply after that time, but had to wait 12 months from their first received payment. The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. "We received around by around $15 million. Housing verification (Examples: a lease, tenancy agreement, or tenancy at will agreement) Proof of Identity of the property owner. It will include enhanced features expected to create a more user-friendly experience and increase processing efficiency. Podemos ayudar. As discussed earlier, families who receive RAFT funding can use that money for a variety of purposes to avoid becoming homeless or to find housing if they are currently homeless. If the landlord decides to go ahead with eviction, are they on shaky legal ground? If the tenant is the one applying, the application will ask them for their landlords contact information (email or phone number). Some regionals are releasing funds within three weeks of receiving a complete application. Thank you for your website feedback! The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. Top-requested sites to log in to services provided by the state, Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program. . RAFT can cover utilities, moving costs, and overdue rent. Better Communities. Visit this page to understand what to expect when you or your tenant applies for emergency housing payment assistance. Applications processed on or after Aug. 1, 2022, are eligible to receive up to $10,000 in RAFT funds. MassachusettsCommunity Mediation Centersare offering free pre-courtmediationbetweenlandlords and tenants for lease disputesin addition to the summary process cases referred through the courts. To view all of this presentation, you must be logged with webinar access. Landlords and property owners can (a) begin the RAFT application process for their tenants who may need to request financial assistance for overdue rent OR (b) complete the application once the tenant has submitted their application. . Applying online is the most direct and efficient way to apply for financial assistance. The tenant should contact the landlord and rental assistance agency. %PDF-1.6 % G.L. Use this button to show and access all levels. Work with your renters to provide your part of the information as soon as requested. RAFT provides qualifying households with maximum benefit limit of $10,000 per household in a 12-month period. Those administering the screening have some discretion in determining eligibility based on the tool. . Better Policy. Families living in emergency shelters are not eligible for RAFT funds, and in theory, RAFT is the superior program, as the goal of the Commonwealth is to keep families out of shelters in the first place. Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Emergency Rental Assistance: Landlord Journeys. Mass. Other landlords, especially mom and pops who rely on rental income for their livelihood, are simply not in the position of Winton Corp to wait several months to find out if assistance from RAFT will cover back rent owed. As of April 16, 2022, the state also allowed for partial payments on behalf of the primary tenant to the landlord or utility company, for those entering co-housing situations. The tenant does not receive funding directly. The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. Apply here Already applied? If you would like to continue helping us improve Mass.gov, join our user panel to test new features for the site. Landlords can begin the application process . Residential Assistance for Families in Transition could pay for moving costs, paying owed rent or utilities, security deposits or first/last months rent, among other uses. You can fill out the information with them. Tenant income eligibility limit forassistanceis 50%of the Area Median Income(AMI), or 60% of AMI for households who are at risk of domestic violence. Not submitted means an application has been started, but not completed and turned in. Landlords should be aware that Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits discrimination bya landlord against anytenant receiving federal, state, or local housing subsidies, including rentalassistance or rental supplements, because the individual is such a recipient. The short answer is: No. The RAFT program is open to all types of landlords, including private landlords, non-profit landlords, and government landlords. The rental assistance agreementincludes the following line: If the Participant's tenancy is terminated prior to the period for which any monthly rental stipend payments were made, I agree to return the unused balance of said funds to the Agency.. Are your tenants behind on rent? Consent is implied when the tenant fills out their portion of the application. If a family is determined to be ineligible for benefits, they may reapply after 30 days. The state officially adopted the program in 2006, and since then, RAFT funding has continually gone up, with funding for the 2019 fiscal year hitting $20 million. Since each HCEC has its own website, we have tried to list the RAFT application links here: If any link doesn't work, visit the Housing Consumer Education Centers site, find the regional HCEC page, and then tell us which link to change. Section 8 is a housing subsidy, and RAFT is meant to be a short-term cash infusion to help families in a temporary difficult spot. Please do not include personal or contact information. This funding source no longer matters. One of the biggest features is the addition of a save and resume function.
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