Stabilizing Renters & Property Owners through Rent Payments

In October 2020, FHFund and HousingLink began working with Hennepin County and Dakota County to rapidly launch two rental assistance programs to cover rent payments for households financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. These programs were time sensitive due to federal obligations to spend allocations from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act before the end of 2020. To expedite processing and complement existing programs accepting applications from tenants, this program was designed to receive applications from property owners on behalf of all of their tenants who were behind on rent.

The application for both counties opened on November 3. Dakota County’s application deadline was November 20 and payments were sent out on November 30. Dakota County was able to pay all eligible applications received, totaling $1,543,866 – over 205% of its original program budget. This resolved rent arrears for over 450 renter-households through payments to approximately 120 owner/manager recipients.

Hennepin County also closed its application portal on November 20, and we are in the process of mailing payments. Nearly $5 million in requests will be delivered through payments to 460 landlords. This will stabilize housing for 2,570 renter households living in homes that are affordable at 60% of the AMI.

We are pleased to have helped thousands more households become current on rent ahead of the holiday season.

We are deeply grateful for support from HousingLink and CliftonAllenLarson (CLA), who were instrumental in administering these relief funds.