Montco Giving Renters Up To $1500 A Month For Coronavirus Impacts

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Residents in Montgomery County who experienced hardship due to coronavirus can now receive significant assistance on rent and utilities.

The Your Way Home Emergency Rent and Utility Commission is making up to $1,500 a month available for those in need.

Eligible households can receive a maximum of $9,000 in reimbursement, or six months worth of payments, the county said, dating back to March 1.

“Keeping people in their homes and preventing an influx of homelessness is critical to the health and safety of Montgomery County households," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said in a statement Friday. "It is also a major contributing factor in the recovery from the impacts of COVID-19."

The assistance comes as the state's moratorium on evictions and foreclosures expired on Aug. 31, leaving many vulnerable populations at risk of homelessness. Gov. Wolf has asked the Pennsylvania legislature to extend the moratorium.

Statistics tracked by the county using Esri's Business Analyst tool estimate that there are 96,664 renters in the county; between 29 and 43 percent of those renters are estimated at "severe" risk of eviction by the end of the year due to the economic stressors caused by coronavirus.

Officials said the goal of the program is to distribute $5.9 million in relief to at least 660 households around Montgomery County.

The program begins on Sept. 8. To qualify, residents must be at or below median income in the area, have an eviction notice or a utility shut off notice, and have no alternative means to pay rent.

To access the program, beginning Sept. 8, call 2-1-1 or text your zip code to 898-211. For more details on the program, see here.