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Date: 4/19/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – The town of Southampton has announced a short-term emergency rental assistance program for Southampton renters who are experiencing an economic hardship due to COVID-19.
The program, which is being administered by Community Action Pioneer Valley and facilitated by the Southampton Housing Authority, includes help with rent arrears and monthly rent.
To be eligible for this program, the renters must live in Southampton; they must have experienced a negative economic impact due to COVID-19; the renter(s) must be at least one month behind on rent; and rent arrears going back to April 1 are eligible. Households living in subsidized housing units are eligible for assistance with rent arrears only, but other households may be eligible for rent arrears and monthly rent payments, as well. Assistance is currently on a first-come, first serve basis, and household annual income must not exceed the 80 percent Area Median Income.
According to Janna Tetreault, the assistant director of community services at Community Action, no one in Southampton has called about the program so far, as of press time. Typically, a person who is interested in the program will get screened for eligibility, and then get a phone appointment with one of Community Action’s resource advocates.
“From start to finish, it’s been taking about four weeks,” said Tetreault, with regard to the process of notifying a renter about whether or not they are eligible for the program. After talking with a resource advocate, Community Action has to review the application and contact the landlord. “We’d be in contact with the applicant and the landlord basically the whole time,” Tetreault added. “The last thing we do is verify with the landlord how much [the renter] is currently behind in their rent.”
If the amount of rent owed has changed since the renter applied, then Community Action will make sure to maximize the amount of assistance the renter may need.
The Southampton program has a payment limit of up to $1,000 per household, so if the person owes more than that, then Community Action will help them apply for other resources like Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT). “Community Action has some other resources that we may be able to help them with,” Tetreault added. Six thousand dollars in total is allocated for this program.
According to Tetreault, a negative economic impact may mean someone lost their job or their hours may have been reduced. Sometimes, renters may have increased expenses, as well. “We’d be working with the household to look at what all of their impacts might’ve been,” Tereault said. “We’re trying to be flexible and reasonable about what those reasons could be.”
Jim Seney, a member of Southampton Housing Authority, told Reminder Publishing that he and the rest of the Housing Authority were aware that there is a need for affordable housing in Southampton.
“We already have residents in our town who are vulnerable to what’s going on economically as a result of the pandemic,” said Seney. “Every town is experiencing residents who are struggling with meeting their rent.”
The Housing Authority met with the town administrator to set aside some CARES act funding for the specific rental relief program they are doing now. As a volunteer board, Seney said that the Housing Authority advocates for this program, while Community Action deals with case management. “We just want to facilitate the contracts with Community Action,” he said.
Renters in Southampton who are interested in this program, can visit https://townofsouthampton.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Southampton-Emergency-Rental-Assistance-Flyer.pdf to learn more about their eligibility, and where they fall in the income limit guidelines.