raft program for landlords

RAFT does not serve homeowners. Starting Nov. 14, landlords or tenants in these areas were able to file new RAFT applications through the portal. If the landlord accepts, they forfeit the right to evict for six months or until June 2021. Slides are available only for members in good standing who are logged in. However, applications received after Aug. 1, 2022, will only be considered if the applicant has received a notice to quit, eviction notice or court summons related to rent arrears. You must have your application number in order to submit documents or to determine which agency is processing your application. If you need assistance, please contact the Housing and Community Development. *2 Program funds can be used for housing-related expenses only. Upon application submission, you will be asked to provide: Proof of ownership of the unit. Landlords can apply directly for rental assistance on behalf of eligible residents. Families who have received HomeBASE funding may also be eligible for RAFT. The Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program may provide income-eligible households with up to $10,000 to pay utilities or moving costs, overdue rent, or future rent in limited situations, and once approved, these payments are sent directly to landlords. The state officially adopted the program in 2006, and since then, RAFT funding has continually gone up, with funding for the 2019 fiscal year hitting $20 million. Depending on which agency or housing authority administers the voucher or subsidy, this may take the form of a lease or a rent share letter.. Search Eviction Records by Address (Beta). A .mass.gov website belongs to an official government organization in Massachusetts. Of the approximately $400 million allocated to Massachusetts in the December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA 2021), 65% had to be spent by Sept. 30, 2021, to avoid clawback. Households can apply by submitting an online application. Renters or landlords can apply by submitting an online application. Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. "We received around by around $15 million. If approved for RAFT, funds will be. Landlords should be aware that Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits discrimination by a landlord against any tenant receiving federal, state, or local housing subsidies . Its possible that this legally linguistic contradiction may not be addressed until litigation is brought forth. Subsidies resulting from RAFT applications during the COVID-19 pandemic were capped at 15 months total benefit. Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. If you think RAFT could help your renter and you apply on their behalf, you will need to provide their email address. The RAFT COVID program appears to be presented as an option for landlords to accept or decline. Please limit your input to 500 characters. As discussed earlier, families who receive RAFT funding can use that money for a variety of purposes to avoid becoming homeless or to find housing if they are currently homeless. Proceed with caution: opting out of RAFT COVID funding could render landlords vulnerable to discrimination litigation. A lawyer can advise you about the law, refer you to resources, fill out and file court papers, and represent you. Not submitted means an application has been started, but not completed and turned in. (MassLandlords data, compiled through a rent survey as part of the Individual Claims Council initiative, shows that average arrears are $4,169 among 59 respondents, representing 765 rental units. . If you need assistance, please contact the Housing and Community Development. A tenant who is late on rent could sign up for the program, receive funds, and use it to put down a security deposit on another housing unit elsewhere. It is highly recommended that you take that step only with the guidance of legal counsel. Log in or get access for as little as $3. The administering agency could require a handrail to be installed, even though this would cause the landlord to lose money on the Section 8 rental compared to a market rental, which would not necessarily trigger enforcement of that part of the code (ignoring, for the sake of argument, that the handrail should be provided regardless of an inspection). Families living in emergency shelters are not eligible for RAFT funds, and in theory, RAFT is the superior program, as the goal of the Commonwealth is to keep families out of shelters in the first place. This language leaves open the possibility that it may be interpreted as discriminatory to evict a renter who has received public rental assistance. Additional documentation that backs up the applicants claim for needing funding may also be required. Your email address will not be published. If an asking rent price for a particular unit is above fair market rent or payment standard, discrimination law does not require a landlord to take less than the full rent to accommodate Section 8 recipients. Because the eligibility standards for this program are evolving, tenants who may not have previously been eligible for RAFT are encouraged to re-apply. Once submitted, applications cannot be edited, but additional documents can be attached if necessary. To view all of this presentation, you must be logged with webinar access. The largest non-profit for owners and managers of Massachusetts residential real estate. Wednesday 8 AM 4 PM +8(!a]FJ@J3D8OzF@F@@AOaGJh pC4z Current Laws A Landlords Guide to Massachusetts Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program. Toll-Free: 800.272.0990 There are many cases in Massachusetts in which landlords are owed rent of well over $10,000, such that RAFT alone would not cure arrearages or cover foreseeable future shortfall. If a family had used RAFT funds to stave off becoming homeless, but in the end were not able to remain in housing, they could see less HomeBASE funding later on. The process for referrals from partner agencies has several steps: For greatest efficiency and to ensure the swiftest process, please provide all required documents and explanation of the housing crisis. Landlords should beware of a potentially problematic legal gray area built into the language of the RAFT (Residential Assistance for Families in Transition) COVID $10,000 option. If you would like to continue helping us improve Mass.gov, join our user panel to test new features for the site. )0OP[S{ Thank you! C( QA%TD2*HTpA2EVHST0 QHH-W$2PgAEVA All calls are free and confidential. Please visit. Applying online is the most direct and efficient way to apply for financial assistance. Find out more about HAF here. This funding source no longer matters. RAFT can cover utilities, moving costs, and overdue rent. Landlords should be aware that Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits discrimination bya landlord against anytenant receiving federal, state, or local housing subsidies, including rentalassistance or rental supplements, because the individual is such a recipient. The program can also be used to help families who are already homeless pay for necessary costs to get into a house or apartment. This could be in the form of emergency rent assistance to avoid eviction (or help paying rent going forward, if the family applying is in search of housing or has already been evicted). You need to contact your lender/servicer to request assistance. An official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, This page, Information for landlords on emergency housing assistance, is, Information for landlords on emergency housing assistance. They can use it for first and last months rent, a security deposit or even furniture (furniture expenses are capped at $1,000). Families must meet income guidelines as well: as of April 16, 2022, this was 50% of Area Median Income (AMI), or 60% of AMI for those at risk of domestic violence. Gov. Landlords should be aware that Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits discrimination by a landlord against any tenant receiving federal, state, or local housing subsidies, including rental assistance or rental supplements, because the individual is such a recipient. This gives applicants 21 days to complete and submit their application once it has been started. These deadlines were shared with MassLandlords and others by a state official over the March 25, 2021, stakeholder zoom. Please limit your input to 500 characters. In case you cannot afford counsel, a provision of the governors Eviction Diversion Initiative set aside funds to help provide legal counsel to people who could not afford representation (a sizable percentage of mom-and-pop landlords). HomeBASE is a program for families who are experiencing homelessness and are living in shelters. RAFT provides qualifying households with up to $10,000 per year to preserve current housing or move to new housing. However, if COVID RAFT is mandatory and must be accepted for eligible renters, it presents a serious financial hardship for some owners who are not in position to forgive arrears or forswear termination. They were eligible to reapply after that time, but had to wait 12 months from their first received payment. It is very important landlords coordinate with tenants before they apply for rental assistance. The CM will review all documents and will follow up with the service provider by email or phone if they are in need of additional documents. The short answer is: No. Your support is critical to help alleviate and prevent the impact of homelessness in Boston. Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. . It will take between four and seven weeks to process all applications. Mediation is a confidential, voluntary and non-judgmental process where a neutral third party (the mediator) helps people resolve differences based on what is important to them. The RAFT COVID program is presented as an option to landlords, who may, according to its language, decide whether or not to accept the funding in excess of $4,000. For instance, prospective rent payments are capped at one month's payment, as long as the household communicates this need on the application or to the person processing the application. To document COVID-related income loss, applicants may provide a letter from their employer showing lost or reduced hours, or documentation of loss of childcare (requiring the applicant to have to stop working). The RAFT program helps keep households in stable housing situations when facing eviction, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies. For greater efficiency, these documents should be submitted with the referral. A Landlords Guide to Massachusetts Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program, Search Eviction Records by Address (Beta), Webinar: Rental Assistance Application Process RAFT ERMA. The program Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) has, in less than a year, ramped up to be the preeminent (and movingly named) housing stabilization service of the pandemic. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Households composed of any of the following:Individuals, families with older children, couples without children, unaccompanied youth, and households of any size. This additional funding program had slightly different eligibility standards than the regular RAFT program, and was used for mortgage foreclosures and loss of utilities, not just evictions. RAFT can cover utilities, moving costs, and overdue rent. Visit this page to understand what to expect when you or your tenant applies for emergency housing payment assistance. A landlord who accepts RAFTfundingdoes not losethe ability to file for eviction due tolease violations that may occur in the future. ,h^$dXcbM/0&4EcTg$H]^A/H][LE1y Discrimination by a landlord is prohibited. Though mass.gov is not completely clear on whether current participants in the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) or Section 8 are RAFT-eligible, wording from the 2020 RAFT administrative plan states that If a family is using RAFT to move into a unit with a subsidy, proof of the total contract rent and of the tenants rent share must be provided. Appropriate uses of funds include, but are not limited to: Financial Assistance Application Haitian Creole, Financial Assistance Application Portuguese, Financial Assistance Application Vietnamese, Financial Assistance Application in Chinese, Metro Housing|Boston Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), a short-term Massachusetts rental subsidy program, is designed to help families who are at risk of becoming homeless transition into stable housing. During COVID-19, the sustainability requirement was removed (Jan. 11, 2021), and then after it was reinstated. Renters or landlords can apply by submitting an online application. RAFT helps all kinds of households by providing up to $10,000, within a 12-month period, to help preserve current housing or move to new housing. Join us! If a family is determined to be ineligible for benefits, they may reapply after 30 days. Despite statements from the Baker-Polito administration and our best efforts at clarification, we are unable to verify that the expanded limit of RAFT COVID will be declared legally optional by a court. Sign up with to receive important news and updates. This could delay the approval process. We will use this information to improve this page. They can also use the money for utility bills, or to get current on owed rent/utilities. All funding sources are now merged behind one single RAFT application. RAFT became the primary housing safety net during COVID-19. RAFT is administered by eleven Regional Administering Agencies (RAAs) as well as the Rental Assistance Processing (RAP) Center operated by Nan McKay and Associates (NMA). 2021 Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development. Monday 8 AM 4 PM Use this button to show and access all levels. More information is available here, or you can go to https://hedfuel.azurewebsites.net/ to find a legal aid program near you. Chinese and Khmer applications are not fillable at this time and need to be scanned. This would seem to suggest that RAFT cannot be refused even when it would not fully cover arrears. The feedback will only be used for improving the website. An official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, This page, Frequently Asked Questions for Landlords about Accepting State Funded Rental Assistance, is, Frequently Asked Questions for Landlords about Accepting State Funded Rental Assistance. Renter advocates, who (like all attorneys) must zealously defend their clients, would likely raise the discrimination issue. The following documentation is required to apply: ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the official website. Consider Section 8. 10 Church Street RAFT helps all kinds of households by providing up to $10,000, within a 12-month period, to help preserve current housing or move to new housing. Better Policy. Some page levels are currently hidden. To begin the landlord/property owner application process, you must first register an account as a new user if you have not already done so here: User Registration (mass.gov). If you have questions regarding how to complete the application, please contact Metro Housings Housing Hub at 617-425-6700 or via e-mail at ResourceLine@MetroHousingBoston.org. Section 8 is a housing subsidy, and RAFT is meant to be a short-term cash infusion to help families in a temporary difficult spot.

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