The city of Aurora is accepting applications from residents in need of assistance meeting their monthly lease payments because of financial hardships experienced during the COVID-19 crisis. The Rental Assistance Program is funded through the House Aurora Partnership and Community Development Block Grants and offers up to two months of rental payments to qualifying residents.
The program grew out of a recent community survey to assess residents’ unmet needs during the COVID-19 crisis, which highlighted a lack of assistance for housing costs and food. The Rental Assistance Program and the city’s Mobile Food Pantry, which also launched May 20, are a direct response to those needs.
The Rental Assistance Program is open to Aurora residents whose household income is 100% or less of area median income, who do not receive other public housing support vouchers, and have a current lease in place in the city of Aurora. Applicants must be requesting rental assistance because of a financial impact from COVID-19, such as loss of income or employment, or medical expenses. Mortgage assistance is not available through this program.
Rental Assistance Program funds will be distributed directly to landlords/property managers and cannot exceed fair market rent as established by U.S. Housing and Urban Development. At least $620,000 will be available for the program initially, coming from block grants and from the House Aurora Partnership, a partnership of the city of Aurora and community organizations that works to keep people in their homes when facing the threat of eviction or to facilitate the transition out of homelessness.
Applications are now available at
AuroraGov.org/RentAssist, along with information about what materials residents will need to complete the application. Residents with questions regarding the program or who need accessibility or Spanish-language assistance with the application can contact 303.739.7937 or
[email protected].
