Governor Baker issued a press release announcing that the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program will stop accepting applications on or around April 15 due to the anticipated expenditure of all current funds. After April 15, households can apply for RAFT funds, subject to their availability.
The Network is joining with statewide partners to advocate for increased funding to RAFT (or ERAP) to ward off the disruption and resulting housing instability this will cause. for See factsheet here.
The State Senate is taking up its Supplemental Budget next week (the House passed its version last week with an additional $100 million in RAFT funds – a start, but we are pushing for twice that to meet the urgent need).
Please call or email your Senator (find contact info here)to urge their support for:
- $200 million to continue the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) homelessness prevention programs through the end of FY22
- Restore program benefits to December 2021 levels (back to the $10,000 cap instead of the current cap of $7,000)
- Extend Chapter 257 protections to June 30, 2023, to move protections upstream, requiring landlords participate in rental assistance applications in good faith before being allowed to file an eviction case
- Temporarily restrict no-fault evictions
- $50 million to ensure the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) is successful by
covering mortgage, tax, insurance, condo, and other fees not covered by HAF but put
homeowners at risk of foreclosure
(Feel free to copy and paste the list above or read it aloud to the legislative aide – either works!)
Thank you for your action!
