CT Rental Assistance Effort Benefitted More Than 1,000: Governor

CONNECTICUT — The state's UniteCT program, which helped tenants and landlords during the coronavirus pandemic, benefitted more than 1,000 people since its launch in March, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.

The program provides qualified households in Connecticut with up to $10,000 in past-due and prospective rent payments, as well as up to $1,500 in payments for past-due electric bills. Payments are typically made by the state directly to landlords and utility companies on behalf of tenants.

Connecticut funded with program with $457 million, which is the state's share of the federal $47 billion that Congress appropriated for emergency rental and utility assistance in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.

"Thanks to UniteCT, more than a thousand Connecticut residents and counting are getting back on their feet without worrying about the roof over their heads, and landlords are receiving payments on their behalf," Lamont said, adding that 250 of the more than 1,000 payments were administered in the past week alone. "I'm confident that UniteCT will help more households each week going forward, and I applaud our Congressional delegation and the Biden-Harris administration for continuing to work with our state to help families recover from the financial impact of the pandemic."

Added Connecticut Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno, "We've been working with stakeholders and the federal government to constantly improve UniteCT. The UniteCT team continues the work of being better today than yesterday at breaking down barriers to delivering financial assistance to Connecticut renters affected by this unprecedented crisis. These changes couldn't come at a better time as UniteCT is deliberately increasing efforts to clear the backlog of applicants. The change in income verification will allow for a shorter turnaround time from application submittal to payment."

The Congressional allocation under the American Rescue Plan Act also provides $10 billion for homeowner assistance, $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers, $5 billion for homelessness assistance, and $5 billion to assist low-income households with home energy and water costs.

Consistent with new guidelines released by the federal government last month, the Connecticut Department of Housing recently streamlined income documentation requirements for the program. To take further advantage of the flexibility provided by those guidelines, and in light of the second round of funding available in the American Rescue Plan Act, UniteCT will now:

• Cover arrears accrued since the national emergency was declared on March 13, 2020, rather than only those accrued in the last six months;
• Reimburse landlords for 100 percent of covered arrears, rather than only 85 percent;
• Cover three full months of prospective rent, rather than requiring certain tenants to contribute a portion of their income;
• Protect tenants by preventing evictions for nonpayment of rent during the months covered by the prospective rent payments;
• Rely where possible, on information about an applicant’s enrollment in other state programs or about median household income in an applicant’s neighborhood to further streamline the application process; and
• Continue to consider waiving the $10,000 limit on rent assistance, on a case-by-case basis, for households with extenuating circumstances.

Tenants and landlords who have already received assistance will also benefit from these changes. The Connecticut Department of Housing will contact those tenants and landlords with further instructions.