Montgomery County offering more short-term rent assistance to tenants

Elderly spouses sitting on couch at home planning budget check bills cheques, computer, documents and calculator on coffee table, close up cropped concept image, couple manage family expenses concept(Getty Images/iStockphoto/fizkes)

More help is on the way in Montgomery County, Maryland, for tenants who have fallen behind on their rent because of the coronavirus crisis.

The county’s COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program launched in June and made direct payments to landlords in July. Now, the program is back for a second round.

It will pay up to $600 a month for up to three months, directly to the renter’s landlord.

To qualify, you must have either lost income during the pandemic, or been hit with new expenses that you didn’t plan for, such as child care.

Also, your income must be below a certain level — $79,600 for a family of four, for example — and you must be at least one month behind on your rent. Read more of the eligibility requirements.

Applications will be accepted Aug. 18 through Aug. 31, and the county is urging you to apply online.

Montgomery County worked to make the application process simpler this time around after some people had trouble with it.

Recipients will be chosen at random from among qualified applicants.

The program is funded through the federal CARES Act.


More Coronavirus News

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.

Michelle Basch

Michelle Basch is a reporter turned morning anchor at WTOP News.

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