More than 3,500 St. Louis City applicants have proven a need for housing assistance due to COVID-19-related hardship in the four weeks that the city’s rental and mortgage assistance program has been in place.
The thousands of city residents that are eligible for the funding have had to prove a financial setback due to the coronavirus such as lost wages, denial of unemployment benefits, documented health issues or other “unique circumstances as approved by the Department of Human Service,” according to the city’s website.
Many city residents who found themselves in financial hardship as a result of the pandemic have been victims of bad timing. The 22nd Judicial Circuit Court reopened eviction hearings on July 7, a full eight days before housing assistance funding was announced and the application process began. On August 6, after a month of eviction hearings, Judge Rex Burlison issued an order to suspend evictions until September 1, following an investigative report by The American.
Mayor Lyda Krewson announced today, August 12, that she is looking to add $2 million from the federal CARES Act to the housing assistance program in answer to the obvious need. The St. Louis City CARES Rental and Mortgage Assistance Program was initiated July 15 with a $5.4 million CARES Act grant.
A statement from the mayor’s office said that the housing assistance program is working to keep people into their homes and out of the eviction pipeline with assistance payments and a landlord mediation process.
Assistance is available for three months of rental payments for the period of July through December, three months of back rent that has not been paid during the period of March through November, and three months of mortgage payments. Housing assistance is limited to $3,500 per household.
Residents can apply online or email downloaded applications to stlcitycares@stlouis-mo.gov. Applicants who don’t have Internet access, can call 314-657-1650 to request an application.
