Correspondent
Edison Township has allocated $1 million of its federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) CARES Act Funds (CDBG-CV1 and CV3, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) toward the creation of an Emergency Rental & Mortgage Assistance Program.
The program will provide temporary rental and mortgage assistance for up to six months for housing costs in arrears.
This assistance is available to low- and moderate-income households, at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) that have had a substantial reduction in income or became unemployed, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The township’s Rental & Mortgage Assistance Program has a grant cap of $10,000 throughout a period of six months. Program applications will be received and reviewed by the Housing Coalition Unit of the Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB).
PRAB offers comprehensive social services – early childhood, youth, family, and community assistance services to over 30,000 individuals and families annually in New Brunswick, Middlesex County and Central New Jersey. PRAB also will provide technical assistance to township residents in completing the grant application.
“This program not only benefits our renters and homeowners, but just as important it helps our community including landlords and financial institutions. It allows people to stay in their homes, allows the landlords to pay their taxes, and the banks to keep our residents employed. This will be a big lift to our entire township,” Mayor Thomas Lankey said when the program was announced last week.
It should be noted that all rental and mortgage assistance checks would be paid directly to the landlord or to the lender/mortgage company. This feature is particularly crucial to the small landlord, whose income has been greatly impacted by the inability of tenants to pay the rent, while there was a moratorium on evictions, officials said.
To obtain an application or for additional information, contact PRAB at [email protected] or call 732-249-9700, ext. 150. Applications are also available at www.edisonnj.org.
Residents must be able to be document the loss or reduction of their income, demonstrate that the COVID pandemic has impacted their annual income, and provide statements that their rent or mortgage payments are in arrears. This may include past-due notices, emails from the landlord (and/or agent), rent ledger from the landlord, or other applicable documents as available. Full documentation requirements will be posted in the application packet.