King County's Rental Assistance Program Reaches 4,600 Households

KING COUNTY, WA — Recent efforts to speed up pandemic rental assistance in King County are paying off, officials said Wednesday, with total payments increasing each of the last four weeks and hitting a new high at the beginning of October.

King County has lagged behind some of its neighbors in getting money out the door to support households in need and pledged at the end of August to pick up the pace using a more streamlined process.

So far this year, the county has sent $46.3 million through its Eviction Prevention and Rent Assistance Program (EPRAP), with a record $7.7 million payments distributed last week. The King County Executive's Office said the program successfully paid overdue rent for more than 4,600 tenants, and applications were being processed for another 14,172.

The program offers to pay up to nine months of back rent and three months in advance rent to eligible landlords who agree not to levy new fees or raise prices for at least six months after the payment period. Eligible tenants are chosen from a pool of applicants, and the county is still accepting new applications.

King County began implementing new guidance from the U.S. Department of Treasury in August:

• Tenants can now self-attest to their program eligibility with regard to income, COVID impacts, and housing instability.
• Landlords can now self-attest as to ledgers and leases.
• Landlords participating in the Landlord Program may request an advance payment of up to 50 percent of the estimated total amount due while their tenant applications are being processed. This was offered to 351 landlords; 148 requested an advance and 79 advance payments have already been made to landlords that represent over 344 owners.

Officials said an overhauled system, new partnerships and a boost to staffing allowed it to distribute recent EPRAP payments at an "unprecedented scale." The county is aiming to have distributed most of the $123 million in currently available funding by the end of October and hopes to receive another $177 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding later in the fall, which would fund the program well into next year and could reach up to 35,000 tenants.

"King County is committed to supporting tenants and local property owners alike to get through the financial hardships of this lingering pandemic," said King County Executive Dow Constantine. "We moved with urgency to implement new federal rules and reassigned dozens of staff to process a flood of applications. Today, our community partnerships are strong, our data system is working well and our team is getting millions of dollars out weekly to stabilize both landlords and tenants across the county."

The county's program also includes a new tool to help prevent evictions over unpaid rent, with $24 million earmarked to help intervene for tenants who would be eligible for EPRAP assistance.

"Despite protections in place, tenants across the country face evictions," said Edmund Witter, managing attorney at the Housing Justice Project. "This contract will allow us to provide King County residents with the legal assistance they need to stay in their homes as they recover from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. We anticipate being able to prevent homelessness for thousands of households as a result."

Learn more about the county's Eviction Protection and Rental Assistance program here.