A group of renters, advocates and some lawmakers formed a human chain of paper keys outside the State House on March 13 urging legislators to fund homeless shelters and rent relief in the $71 million supplemental budget. (Photo Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)
Maine’s pilot rent relief program will now have a waitlist after a deluge of applications in the first few weeks.
After the Maine State Housing Authority began accepting applications mid-October for the $18 million Eviction Prevention Program, which was authorized in the supplemental budget last year, the quasi-governmental agency announced that starting Tuesday any new applications will be placed on a waitlist.
“We know this program is going to help keep thousands of Mainers stably housed this winter and are grateful to the Legislature and Governor Mills for making these resources available,” said MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan. “As a pilot program, we knew at the start of this program that funding would go quickly given the very difficult housing market Maine is grappling with.”
The Quality Housing Coalition, which is administering the program through a contract with MaineHousing, received more than 1,400 applications as of Monday, according to a news release. More than 500 landlords have agreed to accept funds and end eviction proceedings for tenants who have fallen behind on rent.
MaineHousing and the Portland-based Quality Housing Coalition estimate the program will help about 1,000 households with past-due rent and forward rent supplements. The program has already reached people in all 16 counties.
“What I know for sure is that because of this pilot program, 2,000 to 3,000 adults and children will not have the stress of losing their homes this year,” said Victoria Morales, executive director of Quality Housing Coalition. “That is a very good thing.”
Eligibility for the rental assistance program is limited to households earning less than 60% of local area median income and paying no more than 125% of fair market rent for the area in which they live, according to the law governing the pilot program. Fair market rents are determined by the federal government, and are supposed to represent an average price of a moderately-priced dwelling.
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