Time running out to apply for COVID-19 rent and utility assistance in Iowa
Renters who need assistance because of the COVID-19 pandemic have at least a few more weeks, and perhaps as long as a couple months, to apply for federal rental and utility aid, depending on where in Iowa they live.
Eligible residents who live outside Polk County have until 5 p.m. Aug. 30 to apply for the assistance administered via the Iowa Finance Authority, which has allocated nearly $130 million of $195 million of first-round assistance for Iowans approved by Congress in 2020.
The Iowa Rent and Utility Assistance Program, also called Emergency Rental Assistance 1, has assisted more than 15,500 Iowa renter households so far.
In Polk, Iowa's largest county, the state reallocated the funds to Des Moines nonprofit Impact Community Action, which is handling the aid distribution. Anne Bacon, executive director of Impact, said her agency has a little more time to accept applications.
“We are still taking applications through October, possibly into November,” said Bacon.
Impact expects to have all of its $9 million in remaining direct assistance — out of $65 million reallocated from the state — committed by mid-November and paid out by the end of the year. To date, it has assisted 10,281 Polk County households with the first-round ERA funds.
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Bacon said the federal program, overseen by the U.S. Treasury, has higher income guidelines than other rental assistance programs, so Polk residents in need should contact Impact.
Impact's rules also allow applicants to apply for back rent as well as three months of future rent — up to 12 months total, Bacon said. IFA's program does not allow applicants to apply for future rent.
Linn County, the state's second-most-populous and home of Cedar Rapids, also had a separate distribution program, but it ran out of money last year and the state resumed handling the distribution there.
Congress approved two rounds of rental assistance to help offset the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: $25 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance in December 2020 and $21.6 billion as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The Iowa Finance Authority had difficulty spending all of the first-round assistance it received in late 2020.
More: Why Iowa has only given out 2% of $195 million federal rent aid — and won't apply for more
Whatever the state does not spend on applicants and administration will have to be returned to the federal government.
The second round of rental assistance doesn’t have to be spent until September 2025. It also can be used for a broader array of programs.
Of the $59.6 million ERA2 funds Iowa received, it already has allocated $21.6 million to the Rapid Rehousing Pilot Program to prevent homelessness.
More: Polk County to receive $35 million more in rental assistance to counter lingering pandemic hardships
Residents interested in applying for assistance from Impact can go to impactcap.org. Those who want to apply outside Polk County can go iowafinance.com/iowa-rent-and-utility-assistance-program.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa rent, utility assistance application deadline approaching
