Jacksonville rental assistance applications open Wednesday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — If you’re struggling to make ends meet, starting Wednesday you can apply for the city of Jacksonville’s emergency rental assistance. 

The window to apply is not very long. It opens at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday and closes Monday, December 5, at 5:00 p.m. There are certain criteria you have to meet.

You have to live in Duval County. There’s an income threshold. You have to have qualified for unemployment or lost income due to the pandemic. You have to be able to show you’ve experienced housing instability.

First the income requirement, according to the city, your income must fall below 80 percent of the median income for the area to qualify. For a one-person household, this is reportedly just under $47,000.

Priority goes to those who make less than 50 percent of the area median income or have one or more members who’ve been unemployed for at least 90 days. For a one-person household this is reportedly just over $29,000.

For following requirements, you must be able to show in writing that you’ve experienced financial hardship caused directly or indirectly from the pandemic. You must also be able to show you’ve been at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Some examples of this include an eviction notice, a past due utility bill or past due rent notice, or unsafe living conditions.

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This is federal money, just over $3 million of it, that the city states will go directly to your landlord or to pay your utilities. Federal dollars like this have been running out across the country and rent prices have not gone down. An NBC report from earlier this month shows people are struggling more now with payments.

More than seven million people are not caught up on rent, according to new census bureau data. The data also shows in the past year, 12.6 million people say their rent was raised up to $250 and close to five million say it was raised up to $500. 

More than 800,000 people report to the census bureau that it’s “very likely” they could be evicted in the next two months. The data shows women are being more impacted than men and those with lower income are struggling the most.

Read the details of Jacksonville’s emergency rental assistance here. 

Apply for the rental assistance here.