The following information was provided by the City of Orlando.

The United States Department of the Treasury recently allocated $8.6 million in federal funds to help City of Orlando residents who are in need of rental assistance. 

City of Orlando staff are currently working on establishing the qualifying criteria, program guidelines, building the back-end technology infrastructure, and creating the application portal for residents to apply. 

Prior to the application period opening to residents, the qualifying criteria and program guidelines will be considered and approved by the Orlando City Council at their next meeting on Monday, March 22, 2021.

Per the Treasury’s requirements for this program, to be eligible, a household must include: 

  • One or more individuals within the household qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 outbreak; 
  • One or more individuals within the household demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and 
  • The household has a household income at or below 80% of area median income which for a family of four is $58,160 in Orlando. 

As a reminder for residents who may be delinquent on their rent, the CDC has released an Order that may stop landlords from evicting some tenants. However, the order does not automatically protect residents who are delinquent on their rent. 

Residents must meet the eligibility criteria and deliver a signed CDC declaration form to their landlord to be protected. For more information, visit Orange County’s Frequently Asked Questions related to Eviction Protections and Housing Assistance HERE

City residents who would like to receive updates on the city’s rental assistance program and when the application period will open should visit orlando.gov/assistance

Brendan O'Connor

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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