Georgia announces new rental assistance program

State Issues Covid-19 Georgia Mortgages

On February 19, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced that Georgia has received $552 million from the federal government to implement a rental assistance program.  The Georgia Department of Community Affairs will be administering the Georgia Rental Assistance program (subject to the still-developing U.S. Treasury guidelines), which will make payments directly to the landlords and utility providers of eligible individuals. To qualify for the program, a household must have:

• Qualified for unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due directly or indirectly to Covid-19;
• Demonstrated a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and
• Have a household income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with priority given to: 1) households below 50% of the AMI, or 2) households with one or more individuals who have been unemployed 90 days or longer.

Payments are generally capped at 12 months of rent and utilities, but may extend to 15 under certain circumstances.