City of Los Angeles COVID-19 Emergency Renters Assistance Program Has Officially Reopened

On Wednesday, September 1st, California’s COVID-19 Emergency Rent Relief program was made available for rental housing providers and renters in the City of Los Angeles to apply for assistance on the State’s website: HousingIsKey.com. Residents are able to also call the appointment call center at (833) 687-0967 for assistance filling out the application. For general questions and to obtain application status information on a state application, you can call (833) 430-2122.

The new funding agreement between the City of Los Angeles and the State will provide City renters and rental property owners with access to increased rental assistance funds and resources. Due to the overwhelming demand for rental assistance by City of Los Angeles residents, rental requests surpassed available City funding. The City has prioritized assistance to eligible renters with household incomes of 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and below. Through the State program, City residents with household incomes of 31%-80% AMI will be able to access State funding for rental assistance, owed and prospective, as well as utility assistance. The City will be notifying all applicants, for whom there was insufficient funding for rental assistance that their application has been referred to the State program.  Those applicants will have to open an account and submit a new application with the State program.

As of recently, City of Los Angeles’ rental housing providers and renters were only able to apply through the City’s COVID-19 Emergency Renters Assistance Program (ERAP1) which closed applications on April 30, 2021. ERAP1 funding totaled $235.5 million, after administrative costs. The City’s Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), formerly the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCID+LA), continues processing applications. At this time, the City is reaching out to the housing providers of approved renters to obtain final information and process payments. To expediate processing of payments to approved renters in the City, this week the City also approved the allocation of administrative reserve funding to hire additional processors.

Important Transition Information

• If you have a renter that applied to and was approved for assistance, or whose application is currently under review through the City’s ERAP1 program, the City will continue to review, approve and process rental assistance payments.
• Renters who have already applied to the City’s program will be provided with detailed instructions on next steps.
• Due to applications exceeding available ERAP1 funding, for eligible renters that applied under ERAP1 and did not receive rental assistance, the City will be notifying those applicants that their applications have been referred to the State program and prioritized.  It is important to note, that applicants that fall within this category will need to open an account with the State’s “Housing in Key” program and submit a completely new application.  Applications from the City of Los Angeles under ERAP1 are NOT being transferred to the state and applicants must re-apply through Housing is Key.
• If your eligible renter received assistance through the City’s program and needs additional assistance for a different time period (e.g., post April 30, 2021 rent), they can submit an application and provide documentation through the State program.  Duplication of benefits is not permitted.
• City of Los Angeles housing providers and renters who have not previously applied for rental assistance can apply through the State’s program starting on September 1, 2021.

If you have questions regarding your ERAP1 application, please email: hcidla.eras@lacity.org or call the ERAP Call Center at (833) 373-0587. For more information on the City’s ERAP1 program and the new partnership with the State, we encourage members to go to the City’s website at: Emergency Renters Assistance Program (lacity.org)