If you are unable to know English well and require assistance in applying for or understanding this Emergency Assistance program, DHCD can provide over-the-phone, free translation services for your language.
Applying: For the duration of during the Covid-19 crises, DHCD field offices will not be accessible to the public for individual applications.
For more information on how to apply for Emergency Assistance and speak with the Homeless Coordinator, contact (866) 884-6533.
When you call By phone: If you make an application over the phone, you must inform the person answering your call what language you are speaking and an interpreter over the phone will be assigned for you at no cost.
If you've already been identified as suitable and put in an institution, and require assistance from an interpreter in order to you comprehend a document that you have received or another information related to the program, inform the shelter you speak a different language that English and an over-the-phone interpreter will be offered for you at no cost.
While the American economy is still recovering from the devastating effects of the pandemic, millions Americans are struggling with huge rental debt and are fearful of evictions as well as losing basic security in housing. COVID-19 has intensified the affordability crisis in housing which predates the pandemic, and is characterized by deep disparities that could undermine the viability of the economic recovery that needs to be inclusive to everyone.
To address this issue to meet this need, to meet this need, the Emergency Rental Assistance program makes money available to those who are in a position in the financial position to cover rent and utility bills.
Two distinct programs have been created that provide an amount of $25 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 which was signed at the end of December, 2020 and $21.55 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which became law on March 11, 2021.
The funds are distributed in direct installments to states U.S. territories, local government, and (in the instance of the ERA1) Indian tribes. The grantees make use of the funds to provide aid to households in need via existing or new housing assistance and rental programs.
It is the Emergency Rental Aid program and the U.S. Department of the Treasury require Montana to provide assistance first for households earning lower than 50 percent in Area Median Income (AMI) or households that have one or more people who were not employed for the 90 days preceding the date of the application.
To make sure the program is providing assistance to households that earn less than 50 percent of the Area Median Indemnity, Montana Housing reviews the annual income of those who have been approved for assistance on a regular basis to determine the proportion of households that have incomes between 0 and 30 percent of AMI.
Montana Housing has assessed the annual income of those who were assisted between April 5 and December 31st of 2021.
From December 2021 to the present there were one-quarter of families receiving aid had incomes that were above 50 percent in AMI but less than 80 percent. If after a periodic review of the incomes of households who are assisted greater than half of households served are between 50 and 80 percent AMI or less, Montana Housing will adjust outreach, marketing, and administration in order to ensure priorities set in Treasury Department. U.S. Department of the Treasury are met.