The CARES Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 allocated $25 billion to provide emergency rent assistance to families struggling to make payments during the pandemic. Texas received $1.95 billion, $1.31 of which was to be administered directly by TDHCA. TDHCA was responsible for setting up a program to receive applications online, evaluate them, and distribute funds. To do this, the agency contracted an outside vendor.
Of the states that received over $1 billion, Texas was the first to open its rent relief program. However, the program’s launch faced numerous setbacks. A month into the launch, TDHCA has received over 70,000 applications but had only made three payments. Software issues, slow response times, and application difficulties eventually led TDHCA to contract a different company to manage the rent relief program. This new application system has now been launched and is showing signs of expedited processing.
The Texas Rent Relief Program has launched a new application system, making it easier to fill out and submit an application, add missing documentation, and track the status of payment requests. TexasRentRelief.com is still the program’s main webpage to access the application.
If you created a profile or submitted an application in the old system: Over the next several days, applications are being transferred into the new system. Once that is complete, applications can be submitted for review.
For faster review of your existing application, please take the following steps:
- Register in the new system using the email provided for the previous system
- Review and complete an application by adding any missing information or documentation. Click at the following link (https://texasrentrelief.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/TRR-Required-Documents-Checklist.pdf) for an application checklist of all required documents:
- Be sure to request 3 months of current and future rent at this time if you have not already done so.
Original application dates will stay the same. Completed applications are being reviewed in the order received.
Funds are still available, and TDHCA encourages eligible households to apply.