SALEM, Ore. — Tens of thousands of families in Oregon applied for rent assistance during the pandemic. The federal government allocated $204 million to the state to help, but the money came with a deadline.
Oregon had at least spend 65% of the money by September 30 or the feds could take it back and reallocate the money to a state or municipality that had made more progress processing renters' applications.
This dashboard shows that as of September 30, Oregon allocated $69.6 million of its total rent assistance budget of $204 million. That's 73% of the funds, distributed to 10,720 households in the state.
Oregon Housing and Community Services Executive Director Margaret Salazar detailed the program's progress at a media briefing Friday. "To be clear, OHCS and our local program administrators have never processed and distributed this much rental assistance in such short time. This is a historic accomplishment."
The 73% figure, which exceeds the 65% benchmark, should make Oregon eligible to receive additional funding, Salazar said. "We believe this funding will be needed in our state and we'll advocate for Oregon to receive additional funds."
But with progress also comes challenges. Forty percent of the applications for rent assistance the state has received still need to be processed.
Some of those applications are outside the 60-day window that started end of June, which protected renters from eviction as long as they could prove to their landlords they had applied for assistance. In Multnomah County, the protection window was 90 days.
"We and our partners need to focus on pressing those applications as quickly as possible," said Salazar.
The agency recommends that if a renter has fallen behind on rent, they should call 211 right away and apply for OERAP at oregonrentalassistance.org.
If a renter receives an eviction notice from their landlord, they should call the Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project line (888-585-9638) or email evictiondefense@oregonlawcenter.org to seek legal help.
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