SC halts COVID rent assistance applications to catch up with overwhelming demand
A $25 million program meant to help South Carolinians struggling to pay for their rent or mortgage because of the pandemic has been put on hold as the state’s housing finance and development agency processes around 5,000 applications.
The application portal first opened on Feb. 18. Within 10 days, SC Housing received more than 7,000 first round applications, said the agency’s media and market engagement manager, Chris Winston. Of those, around 5,000 people appeared to qualify.
“We don’t know what the remaining funding looks like until we process all of those and see who is eligible.” Winston said. “We didn’t want people to keep applying expecting they are going to get funding and then have to come back three weeks from now and say we’re out of money.”
Each county has been slated to receive a certain portion of the funding. Once all the applications are processed, some counties may have funding still available but not others.
“Our goal was to get this money out to people within 30 days so we should know where we stand in the next two weeks,” Winston said.
Residents whose applications are approved will receive up to six months back rent or mortgage payments capped at $7,500. The payments will be made directly to their landlord or mortgage lender.
To qualify, applicants must make less than 80% of the area median income and demonstrate that their finances have been impacted by COVID-19. They must also receive approval from their landlord or mortgage lender.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 8:58 AM.
