Since it opened Monday, hundreds of renters all over the state have applied for Maine’s pilot eviction prevention program.
The program was allocated $18 million by the Legislature this year to provide relief to Maine residents who owe back rent and face eviction. What sets this program apart from early-pandemic emergency rental relief is that income-qualified applicants will also receive monthly rent subsidies for up to a year beyond back rent, Lucas Schrage, director of housing initiatives at the Quality Housing Coalition, said.
“That will not only pull you out of debt, but it will keep you afloat and allow for your household to focus on other things, such as child care, such as health care, that might have been ignored for some time because of financial constraints,” Schrage said.
QHC, a Portland-based nonprofit, is the agency to get in touch with about the program. They’re taking applications through an online portal, telephone, email, mail and through partner organizations including CAP agencies and legal groups. Starting next week, the nonprofit will host weekly in-person intake sessions in Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford and Portland.
To qualify for the eviction prevention program, you must be a Maine resident who rents, owes back rent and has received an eviction notice, Schrage said. The program is limited to households that earn less than 60 percent of their area median income, pay no more than 125 percent of their area’s fair market rent and are not already living in subsidized housing.
Once you apply, you can submit any supporting documentation such as court records. You have to identify your landlord and have them fill in some information. Applications will be received on a first-come, first-serve basis, but priority might be given to those who face a more imminent threat of eviction, Schrage said. The pilot program will run for as long as funds last.
“The program front to back is 18 months, but I would imagine that funds will be expended well in advance of that,” Schrage said.
The program will make payments directly to the renter’s landlord. Either a tenant or a landlord can submit an application, but the program requires the cooperation of both, according to MaineHousing’s website.
Schrage would not disclose the number of applications thus far beyond saying QHC has received “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds” of them. Most responses have come from Penobscot County and central Maine. That demonstrates the struggles in finding affordable housing in rural areas. A lack of supply in those places can make the stakes higher in the eviction process.
QHC’s hope is that this pilot program demonstrates the need for sustained rent relief programming. The nonprofit will provide an empirical evaluation of the program at its end to advocate for that, Schrage said.
“The need will always greatly outweigh the resources that are available in this context, which is good from a policy perspective, because it will allow us to demonstrate that this is something that the public will can and will continue to benefit from if we can make it sustainable long term,” Schrage said.
