Evers announces $322 million rent assistance program

Gov. Tony Evers announced Wisconsin had received $322 million in funding to create an emergency rental assistance program. The program will help Wisconsinites pay rent and utility bills as well as provide services to help people stay in their homes. 

Eligible households can receive up to 12 months of help paying current or overdue bills. To qualify, people need to have lost household income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, must demonstrate they’re at risk of being evicted and their household income must be at or below 80% of the county median. 

The funding of the program comes from the Federal Rental Assistance Program run by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

“I’m proud of the efforts we’ve made through the Wisconsin Rental Assistance Program to get folks the help they need so they don’t have to worry about losing the roofs over their heads, and this program will build on that success,” Evers said in a statement. “While we continue working to get vaccines distributed and shots in arms as soon as we have supply, these funds will be critically important providing families the stability and support they need to get through this pandemic.”

The program will be run by the Department of Administration which is partnering with Wisconsin Community Action agencies and Energy Services, Inc. to accept applications and distribute assistance. 

Brown, Dane, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, as well as the cities of Madison and Milwaukee are not participating in the statewide program because they already operate their own rent assistance program. 

Applications must be filed with local community assistance programs and can be found at WISCAP.org. Turnaround time from application to payment is 10 days, according to the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association.