The Delaware Housing Authority reopens applications for its rental assistance program with new guidelines.
The Delaware Housing Assistance Program temporarily stopped taking new applications in September, offering the Housing Authority a chance to adjust the program to both new US Treasury policies and rising demand for rental assistance.
The program first received funding through the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program in January 2021; the state Housing Authority hopes to keep the program running until 2025.
Housing Authority spokesperson Laurie Jacobs says the pause also allowed the agency to work through a backlog of applications.
“New or current ones that were stalled because we weren’t receiving the required information from the landlord or tenant, or the cases that just got stuck," she said.
Changes include lowering the income cap for applicants from 80 percent of area median income to 50 percent. For a four-person household in New Castle County, the cap is a household income of $52,000; for a family of the same size in Sussex County, the cap is an annual household income of $42,000.
Jacobs says the change is needed to focus on households most in need of support. “The program’s initial goal was to help those at the margin who are facing immediate eviction – that is what these changes will help do," she said.
While applicants were previously able to self-report their income, the program now requires applicants to provide proof of income; however, the Housing Authority will still allow self-reporting in some cases, namely for people with disabilities or people with disabilities who have no income.
The program will also now cap monthly rental assistance at $1,500, rather than $2,000, to stretch funding until 2025. Program participants will still be eligible for 18 months of assistance, including with overdue rent payments.
