Tarrant County OKs COVID rent assistance application change
CORRECTION: COVID rent relief applicants will still need a photo ID and the landlord will still be required to provide a copy of the lease agreement and a statement of rent owed. An earlier version of this story was incorrect.
People applying for rent assistance through Tarrant County will still be eligible for aid even if they can’t provide certain documents under a policy change approved unanimously on Tuesday by Tarrant County commissioners.
The change lines up with U.S. Treasury Department guidance, which allows applicants to self-attest if they can’t provide certain documents needed to apply.
Applicants will still need a photo ID and the landlord will still be required to provide a copy of the lease agreement and a statement of rent owed.
Tarrant’s policy change comes just as the Texas Rent Relief program shuttered its portal to new applicants due to funding needs exceeding what was available. The state program will still go through the applications it received before the closure, Assistant County Administrator Kristen Camareno told commissioners.
Now, the pressure to keep residents housed falls solely on localities. Following the state program’s closure, officials with both the Tarrant and Fort Worth rent assistance offices were already straining to help concerned applicants.
Across Tarrant County, more than $152 million has been given out to help keep residents in their homes, but only 16% of that amount has come from local programs in Tarrant, Fort Worth and Arlington.
Tarrant has given out $6.1 million, Fort Worth more than $16.1 million and Arlington $3.2 million in assistance.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 2:28 PM.
