‘OGM still in talks whether to open web portal for rental aid’

The Office of Grants Management under the Office of the Governor is still talking whether a website portal will be created for those who intend to apply for housing rental assistance and utility relief through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, according to press secretary Kevin Bautista.

Speaking at a radio news briefing Friday, Bautista said OGM does not necessarily have the same website infrastructure as the Department of Finance with the stimulus portal. “This may also require proof of documentation. So this may include some physical interaction with program staff who are going to be accepting the applications,” he said.

Bautista said Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres, Lt. Gov. Arnold Palacios, and OGM continue to work closely to make sure that they implement the program the right way based on federal compliance.

He said they want to make sure they have the manpower and the resources in place, so that they can seamlessly and efficiently accept applications.

The CNMI recently received $10.4 million for rental assistance and utility relief through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program under the recently enacted Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. The program aims to reduce evictions and to keep citizens in stable homes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of $400 million made available to U.S. territories, the CNMI was allotted $10,400,669 based on the 2019-2020 population estimates. Guam received $33.6 million.

Eligible households may receive up to 12 months of assistance, plus an additional three months depending on the household’s circumstances.

An eligible household is defined as a renter household in which at least one or more individuals meets the following criteria:

• Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19.

• Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and

• Has a household income at or below 80% of the area median ($19,201; CNMI Department of Commerce; 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey).

Bautista said they will be working with the Department of Labor for people who have been considered gainfully unemployed as a result of the pandemic.

“So we’ll be using the same criteria, working with the CNMI Department of Labor to make sure that those folks are properly defined as being unemployed,” he said.

He said they will also be working on directly with the applicants to ensure that they have proper documents, that they have, in fact, been unemployed or have reduced hours, or furloughed as a result of the pandemic.

“So that criteria will stay in place,” said Bautista.

One of the key details of this program is that if the household is already availing of some sort of rental assistance, whether it be through the Northern Marianas Housing Corp., Karidat Social Services, or some other programs where they’re getting housing rental assistance, they won’t be eligible for this aid.

Bautista said they would have to review their eligibility through the application process to ensure that there’s no conflicting other rental assistance that would have taken the place of this current rental assistance.

As to back pay, Bautista said payments to the existing housing-related arrears can be retroactively set as far back as March 13. “That will be prioritized before consideration of any future rent payments. So that financial hardship impact from the beginning of the pandemic, dating back to March of 2020, will be prioritized,” he said.

Bautista said they want to ensure that property owners who lost probable revenue, and renters who have not been meeting their payments, are able to get those rental arrears reduced.

He said then they will continue to work this program out as much as the funding is available.

“In terms of where the money is going to go to directly, at the end of the day, ultimately the property owners will get the payment because they’re the owners of the property. They’re the landlords,” he said.

In terms of who will get the initial rental assistance first, Bautista said this is part that is actually being worked out to by OGM to ensure that they have a proper understanding of both the landlord-tenant issues in the Commonwealth, which had posed an issue in the past.

Bautista said they want to make sure that they are complying with the awards’ terms and conditions. “And that once the program infrastructure is put in place, the renters and property owners will be able to receive those direct financial assistance so that we can help them meet their arrears,” he said.

Bautista said the program is slated to open up in the next two weeks. He said a formal announcement will be made through their office when the application period is open.

“We’ll be keeping the community posted on that,” Bautista added.