The good news is that the Washington State Commerce Department is planning a $100 million rent relief program to help offset unpaid rent resulting from COVID-19 interventions (including the impacts of eviction bans). The bad news is that the program has too many limits, including on income, and is not easy to access. You can read about the program and it’s details here and here. In the email below, we recommend improvements to the program. Take a look and please send your thoughts TODAY. The due date for your thoughts is end of business Monday, July 13th.

Rent Relief Should Be Efficient And Easy To Access

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Dear Jeff,

As a housing provider in Washington, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Commerce Department’s proposed rental assistance program that will use funds from the CARES Act. This program is exactly the right approach to preventing housing instability created by COVID-19 response at the state and local level. From the very beginning, COVID-19 housing impacts were and continue to be on household income, not eviction. IF THIS RENT RELIEF PROGRAM WORKS, WE DON'T NEED AN EVICTION BAN. Please let the current ban expire. Comments on the Proposed Program Efficiency is compassionate – In general, we think the money should skip any third parties and go directly to distressed households and housing providers. Set No Income limits – Unpaid rent whether from households at 80 or 30 percent of AMI still impacts the ability of housing providers to manage and operate their properties. Every dollar of unpaid rent should be considered equally harmful to the overall economy. Organizational grants – Allow direct application by residents to Commerce for relief, and please allow housing providers to seek this relief on behalf of their residents. Full payment – The program should pay all unpaid rent across the entire housing economy to reduce the risk of future investment in housing creation and do this without strings attached. Pay rent for future and ongoing COVID-19 impacts – Providing for future COVID-19 impacts on income means less stress and impact on residents worried about next months rent and will reduce risk and allow housing providers to remain financially sound. If the Commerce Department resolves to keep the general structure of this program, we would request that you create a $20 million set aside to parallel this program. This parallel program would, o Allow direct application for relief by residents and providers or would allow joint applications; o Eliminate any income requirements and distribute relief based on demonstrated COVID-19 impacts and unpaid rent; o Pay all rent owed minus late fees or penalties with no collection action taken on paid amounts; o Make full payments within 7 days of approval of assistance; and o Include rigorous evaluation to compare the efficiency of both programs and their impact on reducing unpaid rent.

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