As scheduled, King County’s Eviction Prevention and Rent Assistance Program (EPRAP) paid its first rental assistance payments on Friday, July 16, 2021 totaling $4,373,510.21. The payments, sent to 42 local property owners, create critical stability for over 800 households in King County who had fallen behind in rent payments due to COVID-related economic crises.
Over the past year, the twin crises of COVID and unemployment have taken a toll on countless households countywide, resulting in the inability to pay monthly rent and creating hardships for both tenants and local property owners. With the region already grappling with homelessness countywide, the threat of thousands of evictions due to nonpayment of rent looms large. The primary goal of EPRAP is to prevent homelessness for individuals and families by working with local property owners to pay the back rent and give households the opportunity to get back on their feet.
EPRAP currently has about 2,600 properties countywide registered by property owners seeking assistance for their tenants. This includes 1,900 apartment buildings and about 700 condominiums, duplex, triplex, fourplex, mobile homes, single family, and townhomes. The program also has over 9,000 tenants pre-registered and to date, has drawn about 1,200 names for processing.
Property owners participating in the program can receive up to nine months of past or current rent and three months rent in advance. Maximum payment allowable is 12 months.
Community-based organizations under contract with King County EPRAP are working with both property owners and tenants to help them complete the online registration process toward approval for payment. The first 150 properties are being processed now, with more tenants and properties entering the queue as applications are completed. Payments will be issued weekly until all funds are spent.
Individual tenant registration is still open and names are being drawn weekly. Tenants that need assistance can learn more and pre-register at https://rent-help.kingcounty.gov/. Materials, including Fact Sheets on the program and registration instructions are available in 28 languages. Community staff are also available to offer assistance in language.
For more information and questions contact The EPRAP Team: 206-263-3481 or DCHS Rental Assistance
