On Friday, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) announced additional resources for rental and homeowner assistance programs for Floridians that have been impacted by COVID-19.
Up to $40 million is available to local governments to continue assisting impacted households in their area. In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis allocated $250 million of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to be used for rental and homeowner assistance programs. Initially, Florida Housing committed $120 million to strategically address rental and mortgage assistance programs through local government housing and SHIP offices. Florida Housing is reallocating a portion of its CRF dollars to further support local governments that have or will expend their original allocations.
As the program is set to end on December 30, Florida Housing is encouraging homeowners and renters affected by COVID-19 who have not yet applied to contact their local government SHIP housing office immediately.
“Our team has been working diligently to distribute these funds throughout the state to ensure housing assistance is available to those who were affected by COVID-19 and need it most,” said Trey Price, the executive director of Florida Housing Finance Corporation, on Friday. “We know that many are still financially hurting as a result of this pandemic and Florida Housing is here to help. We urge those who need assistance to contact your local government housing office or our Coronavirus Relief Fund Hotline for more information before this program ends.”
Impacted homeowners and renters can still apply for funding assistance through their local government housing office. The toll-free Coronavirus Relief Fund Information Line is available Mondays through Fridays from 9 am – 7 pm Eastern Standard Time for those who would like to speak directly with a representative: 1-888-362-7885.
