News

Virginia Rent Relief Program - What You Need to Know

By Patrick Algyer, NVAA Executive Director

Earlier this week, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development announced some changes to the Virginia Rent & Mortgage Relief Program more commonly referred to as the RMMP. The most notable change is the program no longer applies to mortgages and will now be known as the Virginal Rent Relief Program (RRP).

Here’s what you need to know:

• Fairfax and Chesterfield counties have decided to allocate relief at the local level, meaning residents in those jurisdictions need to apply with the county directly.
• Federal guidelines have changed and it is now required to submit additional documentation for the RRP:
  • This includes income verification for the two months prior to the application and the most recent income verification for all adult household members.
  • While this does require more work up front, it may allow the RRP to pay an additional three months of future rent for eligible households. This is on top of the current month's rent and all eligible arrears dating back to April 1, 2020.
• Landlords should still apply for RRP funds on behalf of their tenants, which can be done first through the landlord portal A secondary mode of applying is through the tenant portal.
  • Landlords will be paid more quickly by using the landlord portal. The tenant application helpline is receiving up to 7,000 calls a day and is much more crowded.
• If a tenant moves out before the end of their lease, the landlord can keep the funds up until the tenant move-out day, and going forward, future payments to the landlord will be prorated.
• Eligibility requirements remain the same:
  • Gross monthly income at or below 80% of AMI.
  • Rent cannot exceed 150 percent of Fair Market Rent.
  • Must provide three months of income documentation - although this is not a requirement to determine income eligibility, it is strictly for documentation purposes.
  • Demonstrated inability to make rent payments due to COVID-19 shown through a self-certification document on behalf of the tenant. This can be due to increased expenses such as medical or childcare and is not limited to loss of income alone.
  • 100% of arrears may be collected back to April 1, 2020.
  • Cannot receive more than 15 months of assistance.
  • Housing Choice Voucher recipients may obtain assistance for arrears rent but not current or future rent.
• Additional information and resources on emergency rental assistance programs from the U.S. Treasury Department can be found here.

Join us on March 4^th for an interactive panel discussion with Jurisdictional representation discussing rent relief programs in Northern Virginia. REGISTER HERE

Stay tuned for more updates, the latest information, and everything landlords need to know about rental assistance. NVAA is here to help you during these difficult times.

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