Sonoma County speeds up rental aid distribution after slow start

After a slow rollout, Sonoma County’s pandemic rental aid program has finally sped up distributing funds, officials said, so far allocating almost half of the initial $32 million available for struggling tenants.

But setbacks getting money out the door since the program launched in April mean the county could miss out on the other half of that funding.

Still, even more state and federal dollars have been made available to the county, giving it access to potentially $49 million going forward. That’s on top of the more than $14 million it’s already allocated.

County officials said they should have enough money to meet the local need. And they’ve made a focused effort to accelerate the program.

“We’ve seen a crush of applications, probably in the last three weeks,” said Dave Kiff, interim director of the Sonoma County’s Community Development Commission, its chief housing agency.

Tenants impacted by the pandemic and earning no more than 80% of the county’s median income are eligible to have all of their rent covered for up to 18 months dating to April 2020. Both tenants or landlords can apply.

As of last week, the program had allocated a total of $14.5 million, up from $11.4 million in mid-September and $5 million at the end of July, according to county data.

But only a portion of that money has actually reached renters.

So far, 1,020 local families and individuals have received aid. Another 2,252 are in line for their share of the assistance, according to Kiff.

Because the county missed an Aug. 1 deadline to give out its initial round of state rental aid funds, it may lose access to $17.5 million. However, it can recoup that money if it proves to the state there’s sufficient demand from local renters, Kiff said.

It’s likely there are still many local tenants and landlords who could use the help.

In August, 7,883 households in the county were saddled with nearly $30 million rental debt, according to the National Equity Atlas, a data tool by University of Southern California researchers.

For months, the county’s rental assistance program had been hampered by administrative red tape and other barriers to access.

Ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline to give out its first round of federal funds, officials encouraged the 10 local nonprofits tasked with guided tenants through the application process to sign up more people.

That sense of urgency, coupled with an audit of outstanding applications, helped get the money moving, according to Kiff.

“We really pushed our community partners and encouraged them to focus on applications that may have needed a little work,” he said.

The Sept. 30 deadline was also the last day of a statewide moratorium on evictions for nonpayment. But struggling tenants who had already applied for assistance should remain shielded from eviction, according to county attorneys.

Tina Rivera, interim director of Sonoma County Department of Health Services, is optimistic renters who apply for aid going forward will also be protected, though she acknowledged that may come down to how a judge interprets the state statute.

“It certainly is a legal interpretation. But it's my understanding that individuals (who apply for aid) are protected until the pandemic has has officially ended,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is set to approve receiving another $13.8 million in state funding for its emergency rental assistance program. The catch is the county must hand out $4.1 million of that total by the end of the month in order to keep the rest.

Additionally, the county has already received $17.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act passed in March. A portion of that money doesn’t need to be distributed until next year.

Bryan Hughes, a board member with the non-profit Russian River Alliance, said getting people signed up in West County has been challenging, in large part because renters simply weren’t aware of the program.

Another issue has been that tenants who took out loans to avoid falling behind on rent haven’t been able to get that debt covered under state rules.

But since the state eviction moratorium was extended in June, qualifying tenants can apply for up to three months of future rent — even if they haven’t missed a payment, county officials said.

“We’re telling people: You absolutely qualify and you should absolutely take advantage of this program,” Hughes said.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian