Nearly 46,000 Oregon households facing pandemic hardship receive over $302 million in rental assistance relief
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) began processing for payment applications submitted through the Oregon Emergency Rental Assistance Program (OERAP) after the portal reopened in Jan. 26, 2022. As of March 16, the agency has paid out $302 million in emergency rental assistance to 45,930 households.
Due to OHCS paying out and allocating available federal funds, the state had paused accepting new applications on Dec. 1, 2021. After the Oregon Legislature allocated $100 million for emergency rental assistance to support renters facing eviction, the portal reopened on Jan. 26, 2022. As of today, 28,224 applications have been submitted since the portal re-opened in January. Based on program guidelines, not all submitted applications are eligible to receive payment.
The OERAP portal will remain open until 11:59 p.m. PDT on March 21, 2022. The state had planned to close the portal Monday but after submitting a letter to U.S. Department of Treasury advocating for more funds, it was notified that it would be receiving $16 million in additional federal emergency rental assistance funding. This funding will support an estimated 2,200 additional households.
Eligible renters are encouraged to apply today. Tenants can receive safe harbor protections from eviction while their rental assistance application is being processed. They must show proof to their landlord that they applied for the program to receive the protections. Tenants can apply for OERAP at oregonrentalassistance.org or call 211 if they have questions.
New OERAP dashboard
OHCS has redesigned the OERAP dashboard to provide a wide range of data about rental assistance in Oregon. It is easier to read and to associate applications paid with the relevant demographic information of applicants. In the agency’s work to ensure transparency, elements may be added to the dashboard as feedback is received. The dashboard will be updated on a biweekly basis.