Need help paying rent or utility bill in California? With deadline near, here’s what to do

Californian renters and landlords behind on payments have until Thursday, March 31, to apply for state assistance with past due and future rent and utility bills through a pandemic relief program.

Nearly half a million tenant applications have been filed in California, where the program aims to help those finally impacted by COVID-19.

Under the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program, eligible applicants can receive free financial assistance with housing debt accumulated between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022.

Here’s what you need to know about the eligibility and application materials:

Am I eligible for California rental assistance?

To qualify for assistance, your household income must be at or below 80% of the area median income for your county, according to the state’s tenant eligibility quiz. For example, in Sacramento County, a two-person household’s annual income has to be under $58,0000 to qualify for the rental relief program.

However, priority assistance will be given to income eligible households most at-risk for evictions.

Assistance from the relief program will not count as earned income for renters. It will also not affect eligibility for any other state benefit assistance programs including CalFresh and Calworks, according to the California COVID-19 Rent Relief homepage.

The location of the rental property also matters.

The rental property’s location determines if you’re eligible for state assistance or a local program. To check, you can enter the address where you’re applying for rental assistance into a state map, found on the state’s official housing website. The results can help determine whether you should apply through the state or your local jurisdiction.

Income-eligible applicants may qualify regardless of immigration status and will not be required to show proof of citizenship, according to the program’s highlights section on the official California state government website.

What materials do I need to apply?

Once you’re ready to apply, you must have one of the following materials available, according to the state website:

• 2020 tax return
• 2020 W2 and 1099G (if you were unemployed)
• Current pay stubs
• Proof of participation in a state or federal subsidy program like CalFresh or Calworks (2020 or 2021 acceptance renewal letter is preferred).

If you’re also applying for financial assistance for utility bills, provide utility invoices or statements from any unpaid utility, trash and internet bills after April 1, 2020.

If you don’t have any of the paperwork listed above, you can still apply. According to the website, most of the information can be certified in the application, but you’ll need to provide proof of identity.

What about landlords?

Once you’re ready to apply for state assistance you need all of the listed materials below, according to the California state website:

• Lease or rental agreement with the renter’s name, address and monthly rent price.
• Rent ledger or rent statement showing the balance of the unpaid rent from April 1, 2020.
• W-8 or W-9

If you have 10 or more tenants and want to upload information for all of them at once when you apply, you’ll be asked to fill out a specific form, linked under the landlord section of paperwork materials on the COVID-19 Rent Relief homepage.

What if I already applied?

If you’ve already applied, you don’t need to apply again. You can check the status of your application or return to an application you’ve started but haven’t completed.

For more information on the program you can visit housing.ca.gov or call 833-430-2122.

This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM.